Did Pharmaceutical Firms Exploit Pancreas Problems to Increase Profits?

[marmar]

via truthdig:



Successful efforts by patient advocacy groups to require new approval standards for a particular class of drugs have resulted, perhaps inadvertently, in a sharp reduction of available products and a spike in the cost of brand name drugs to a tune of $350 million per year, Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News contributor Monica J. Smith reports.

The crucial question that arises in the mind of the socially concerned observer is whether prescription drug companies increased their profits by jacking up prices in a scarcity they may have helped create.

The advocates’ stated aim was to increase professional and publicly available knowledge of the drugs’ safety and efficacy through regulations under the Food and Drug Administration.

As a class, the drugs are known as pancreatic enzyme therapies. They are essential for people who suffer from problems associated with cystic fibrosis or chronic pancreatitis. Treatment typically requires three to four doses per day for the duration of a patient’s life. Those who go without the drugs commonly develop malnourishment and osteoporosis. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/do_your_pancreas_problems_equal_pharmaceutical_profits_20140508

[BrotherIvan]

1. Yes

I wonder if there will ever be regulation on price gouging for medicine. It's so craven, it's shocking.

[IDemo]

2. I can only speak of another pancreatic enzyme therapy

Insulin. The cost for one vial of Lantus (Glargine) has skyrocketed over the past year. Not as if diabetics actually need their product to survive, or anything.

-- the cost of Lantus, a top-selling insulin produced by Sanofi, has gone up twice already this year, first 10 and then 15 percent. In addition, Novo Nordisk has also increased the price of Levemir, another common insulin treatment, by 10 percent.

What’s going on here? Overall drug spending is slightly down due to generic drug utilization being up. And generic competition isn’t too far off for many of these drugs. It looks like we have a classic example of pharma executives raising drug prices just for the hell of it! They are jacking the prices to squeeze the most profit out of the drugs—at the consumers expense.

http://www.rxrights.org/the-rising-price-of-insulin/

Four healthcare CEOs did something extraordinary at the Reuters Health Summit last week: They admitted that drug companies put up prices just for the hell of it. It was a rare moment of group candor from Big Pharma and its allies, who usually argue that prices are set by the market or that companies need high prices to pay for innovative R&D.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-pharma-ceos-admit-they-jack-up-drug-prices-for-the-hell-of-it/