The Prescription Drug Problem & PBM Reform
May 24, 2024
Warning signs: Are you working with a self-serving PBM?Discussed below are some of the most common contractual provisions that plan fiduciaries and benefits advisors must know to avoid and/or expose a self-serving PBM.
May 21, 2024
Class action lawsuits moving ahead for Ozempic-type weight loss drugsMore than five dozen lawsuits have been filed against the makers of weight loss drugs.
May 22, 2024
UnitedHealth's PBM, Optum Rx, launches a more 'transparent' drug pricing modelPharmacy benefit manager Optum Rx plans to launch Clear Trend Guarantee in 2025 to allow employers and health insurers to more easily manage their drug spending, while creating more predictability for patients around costs.
May 24, 2024
Drugmakers GSK and Boehringer win 1st Zantac 'cancer claims' lawsuitAn Illinois jury sided with drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim in the first trial over Zantac, which the FDA recalled in 2020 over claims the over-the-counter heartburn medication caused cancer.
May 24, 2024
Pharmacists, patient rights advocates protest Express Scripts' drug practicesPatients are being harmed by Express Scripts and other pharmacy benefit managers that prevent them from using their preferred pharmacies, resulting in decreased availability of medications and higher drug prices, say protestors.
May 24, 2024
Antitrust class actions emerging against Big Pharma for alleged misuse of patents"Teva stifled would-be generic competitors to QVAR because the drug laws do not allow for generic substitution of a given drug-device combination unless the generic is approved for that specific drug-device combination," the complaint alleged.
May 29, 2024
High drug prices? Senators blame Big Pharma for abuse of the drug patent systemAt a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senators accused drugmakers of gaming the system by filing 100+ patents for any given drug, while trade group PhRMA said the system advances "the development of new medicines."
May 30, 2024
Low-income patients struggle to afford high-priced GLP-1 diabetes drugsOzempic, Trulicity and Mounjaro were first approved to treat diabetes, however, in the last three years, the FDA has approved rebranded versions of Mounjaro and Ozempic for weight loss, leading demand – and prices – to skyrocket.
June 03, 2024
Walgreens will conduct clinical trials for Boehringer Ingelheim's new obesity drugAs the drugmaker moves into Phase III studies for survodutide, its new GLP-1 obesity drug, Walgreens will use its community pharmacies as clinical trial sites, aiming to improve access and address equitable health representation.
June 03, 2024
Lawsuits are flying over generic-drug disputesFive of the suits were filed by Esperion Therapeutics, which seeks to stop competitors from selling generic versions of the company's cholesterol drug Nexletol.