Author's posts
Pouring Billions Of Dollars Into Marketing Of Drugs
At last tally, in 2016, the biopharmaceutical industry spent $30 billion on medical marketing, about a third of which was DTC advertising. The important question this begs is whether more marketing leads to a better informed patient or consumer.
Rebates To The Dustbin Of History?
Under the (HHS proposal rebates would only be permitted if they were passed through directly to patients. However, the notion that rebates would be given to patients at the pharmacy counter is unclear and perhaps even meaningless in the context of the …
States In Driver’s Seat On Healthcare Reform
In lieu of federal action to either sure up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or offer a viable alternative, states are now driving healthcare reform efforts aimed at addressing healthcare access and payment models for pharmaceuticals.
How Appropriate Is The Objective Of Maximizing Societal Health Outcomes?
The conventional utilitarian approach to health economic analysis evaluates healthcare interventions with the aim to maximize the efficiency of the healthcare system in producing the greatest population-wide number of a given outcome, say, the QALY. Bu…
The Importance Of Patient-Centric Opioid Prescribing Guidelines
A number of legislators, pharmacies, and payers have perhaps misinterpreted the CDC recommendations and turned them into compulsory limits and quotas. In certain instances, mandatory opioid tapers may do more harm than good.
FDA’s Banner Year For Approvals: Will Market Access To New Drugs Follow Suit?
By all accounts 2018 was a sensational year for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of new drugs and biologics. But, payers are faced with the prospect of having to manage the impact of drugs launching at increasingly higher prices.
Trump Administration Throws Down Gauntlet On Drug Prices
Much to the annoyance of the Trump Administration the drug industry keeps raising list prices of drugs. The Trump Administration has made it clear that it won’t tolerate business as usual. And, legislators on both sides of the aisle appear to be simila…
A QALY Is A QALY Is A QALY, Or Is It?
A central question facing ICER and CVS Caremark is whether a drug’s value should depend on not only a measure such as QALYs, but also on which disease or population is being treated, which implies that a QALY may not always have the same weight.
Partial Government Shutdown’s Impact On FDA Drug Approvals
Besides the government shutdown’s impact on food inspection, there are also short-term and possibly longer-term implications for drug development. The FDA has suspended reviews of existing Investigational New Drug (IND) and Biologics License Applicatio…
Smartphones Could Boost OTC Drug Utilization And Numbers Of Rx-To-OTC Switches, Too
Some time this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to formally propose a plan that would limit the need for patients to obtain a prescription from a doctor for certain drugs that currently have prescription-only status.
