Rao bulletin 1 February 2017 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles pg Article Subject
Download 7 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Prescription Drug Advertising Update 01 ► Reaction to Trump Comments
- * Finances *
Drug Cost Increases Update 02 ► Trump on High Prices President Trump told Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) at an inaugural luncheon 20 JAN that the two needed to meet about the high cost of prescription drugs, according to a Cummings aide. Cummings is one of the most outspoken lawmakers in favor of government action to fight high drug prices. Trump’s apparent willingness to work with him on the issue is a further sign that the new president is upending the usual GOP position against government action on drug prices. The conversation between Trump and Cummings was first reported by April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks. Cummings has repeatedly teamed up with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to introduce legislation to fight high drug prices. In 2015, the two lawmakers introduced a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and encourage the importation of lower-cost drugs from Canada. Trump has echoed some of those calls himself. At a press conference earlier this month, Trump attacked pharmaceutical companies and repeated his call for Medicare to negotiate prices, a position most Republican lawmakers oppose. "The other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry, because they’re getting away with murder," Trump said then. "PhRMA, PhRMA has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power and there’s very little bidding on drugs," he added, calling out the drug companies. It is unclear, though, what legislation on drug prices could actually get through Congress, given Republican control. [Source: The Hill | Peter Sullivan | January 21, 2017 ++] ***************************** Prescription Drug Advertising Update 01 ► Reaction to Trump Comments Just two weeks after President Trump said the pharmaceutical industry is “getting away with murder” on drug prices, the industry's major lobbying group launched its largest-ever ad campaign aimed at rebranding drug companies' image — without even mentioning the topic. Instead of drug prices — which have been the subject of multiple congressional hearings, an issue debated in the presidential campaign and a top concern of consumers — the first television ad focuses on science, patients and the heroism of researchers. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, said its new campaign will cost in the high tens of millions of dollars each year. It will highlight areas of true scientific excitement such as immunotherapies for cancer and the power of personalized medicine and genomics to target medicines to patients. 
PhRMA President Steve Ubl said at a press event 23 JAN that the industry hasn't told its scientific story well enough. The print, online and TV campaign would fill in that gap, explaining to consumers that we're in a “new era of medicine,” he said. But the emphasis on innovation instead of pricing is a familiar strategy, according to historians of medicine. Today's “new era of medicine” is yesterday's antibiotics, antituberculosis drugs, psychotropic drugs or antidiabetic medicines. That strategy has worked many times in the past, but it may be a risky time to rehash this message. The campaign launches as the affordability of health care has become a pressing issue for millions of Americans, as it remains uncertain what will replace the Affordable Care Act. “What does it matter to the average American that there are new and exciting treatments for cancer if there’s no confidence they’ll be able to afford them or access them?” said Jeremy Greene, a historian of medicine at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) who also practices medicine in a community health center in Baltimore. “When people don’t have insurance, you begin to realize just how much drugs cost at the pharmacy with no insurance.” Ubl said that it was the right time for the industry to go on the offense. He argued that the negative image of drug companies stems from a handful of outlier companies that raised prices on old drugs. Specifically, he noted Martin Shkreli, the hoodie-wearing former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals who hiked the price of an old drug to $750 a pill overnight. “We want to replace the image of the industry that some have,” Ubl said. “In short, less hoodie and more lab coats,” he added, referring to Shkreli. In response, Shkreli put up his own website, arguing that other companies had hiked drug prices. Industry observers said that a campaign focused on science and future therapeutic revolutions don't address a core issue that has emerged over the past year and a half: the public perception that the industry is not holding up its part of the social contract to not only develop drugs but also make them accessible. “Just because you have a new breakthrough medicine doesn’t mean I’m going to get access to it,” said Kenneth Kaitin, director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. “I think this is the exact wrong time to play around with that issue, because more and more people are going to get concerned — or already are concerned — about the state of their health-care coverage.” Ubl said the campaign will also focus on demonstrating the value of drugs. That, too, isn't new, said Dominique Tobbell, a historian of medicine at the University of Minnesota (UM). Tobbell said in an email that since the late 1950s the pharmaceutical industry has made arguments about its drugs' values, from the reductions in mortality to saving health-care costs through reduced hospitalizations or getting workers back on the job faster. “Consistently, the industry has cast pharmaceuticals as the major reasons for these health-care gains — the role of public-health measures, preventive medicine, and lifestyle changes have been routinely missing or downplayed in its campaigns,” Tobbell said. JHU's Greene argues that there are essentially two conversations Americans have about drugs. One is about the frontiers of science and the need for medicines to treat rare and overlooked diseases. Another is about access to medicine and health. These two discussions rarely overlap, he says. For example, in a rare wave of bipartisan support late last year, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act aimed at speeding up the development of new drugs. What wasn't part of that legislation was an acknowledgment that patients were frustrated with the price and access to older drugs, an issue that came up at multiple congressional hearings over the past year. UM's Historian Tobbell said that although the strategy of focusing on innovation has been successfully used for decades, consumers have more information about how pricing works that may keep them skeptical about the industry. But if history is a guide, the strategy may simply put off the issue until the next time a pricing controversy flares. “Each time, it seems like prescription drug prices have reached some new high that’s just impossible to bear. The level of prices that we’re talking about when we talk about the unaffordability of prescription drugs — if you were to show them to people having arguments over prescription drug prices in the '80s, it would be incredible,” Greene said. “How many cycles of normalization of high drug prices and reinflation of drug prices can we stand as a society?” [Source: The Washington Post | Carolyn Y. Johnson | January 23, 2017 ++] * Finances * 
Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2017 2017 -> Leadership ohio 2017 -> Ascension Lutheran Church Counter’s Schedule January to December 2017 2017 -> Board of directors juanita Gibbons-Delaney, mha, rn president 390 Stone Castle Pass Atlanta, ga 30331 2017 -> Military History Anniversaries 16 thru 31 January Events in History over the next 15 day period that had U. S. military involvement or impacted in some way on U. S military operations or American interests 2017 -> The Or Shalom Cemetery Community Teaching on related issues of Integral 2017 -> Ford onthult samenwerking met Amazon Alexa en introduceert nieuwe navigatiemogelijkheden van Ford sync® 3 met Applink 2017 -> Start Learn and Increase gk. Question (1) Name the term used for talking on internet with the help of text messege? 2017 -> Press release from 24. 03. 2017 From a Charleston Car to a Mafia Sedan 2017 -> Tage Participants 2017 -> Citi Chicago Debate Championship Varsity and jv previews Download 7 Mb. Share with your friends:
|