NO ONE SERVES HIS PAYMASTERS ON WALL STREET MORE THAN BARACK OBAMA!
HE SMELLS THOSE SPEECH FEE BRIBES ALREADY!
AND HILLARY IS OBAMA'S CLONE!
Drug prices have also been a theme in the presidential campaign. The
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, for example, released a campaign
advertisement earlier this month attacking the “predatory pricing” of
Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Like the congressional hearing, this is all for
show. Of all the presidential candidates, Clinton is the top recipient
of donations from the pharmaceutical and health products industry,
taking in $410,460 according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
US drug prices doubled since 2011
By
Brad Dixon
18 March 2016
According to a new
report by
the pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts, the average price of
brand-name drugs increased by 16.2 percent last year. Between 2011 and
2015, branded prescription drug prices have nearly doubled, rising 98.2
percent. Since 2008, the prices have increased by a whopping 164
percent.
Drug spending rose by 5.2 percent in 2015. This was about half the
increase seen in 2014, the year of the largest hike since 2003.
The report is based upon prescription use data for members with drug
coverage provided by Express Scripts plan sponsors. In assessing changes
in plan costs, the report distinguishes between the relative
contributions from changes in patient utilization (e.g. more patients
being prescribed the drug) and changes in the unit price of the drug
(e.g., price hikes).
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, most drug spending was on
traditional drugs (small-molecule, solid drugs) to treat conditions such
as heartburn, depression and diabetes. The recent trend has been a
shift to specialty drugs. Still, within traditional therapy categories
there were significant increases in spending on medications to treat
diabetes, heartburn and ulcers, and skin conditions.
Diabetes medications remain the most expensive of the traditional
drug categories. Drug spending in this category increased by 14 percent,
with the hike being equally influenced by increased utilization of the
drugs and rise in unit cost. Three diabetes treatments—Lantus, Januvia
and Humalog—were among the top five drugs in terms of spending across
all traditional therapy classes.
Although not discussed in the report, an investigation by
Bloomberg News last year
found evidence
of “shadow pricing” by drug manufacturers, where companies raise their
prices immediately after their competitors do so. The investigation
found that the prices of diabetes drugs Lantus and Lemivir had increased
in tandem 13 times since 2009, and evidence of similar shadow pricing
for the drugs Humalog and Novolog.
Heartburn and ulcer drugs saw a 35.6 percent increase in spending,
almost solely due to the rise in unit cost. Although 92.3 percent of the
medications filled in this category were generic, the price unit trend
was heavily influenced by the increase in prices of branded drugs such
as Nexium, Dexilant and Prevacid.
Treatments for skin conditions also saw a significant increase of
27.8 percent in spending, again due almost completely to rises in the
unit costs of the medications. The report notes that these increases
occurred for both generic and branded therapies, largely due to industry
consolidation through mergers and acquisitions leading to less
competition in the market. While 86.3 percent of the drugs filled were
generic, many of the generic versions saw sharp increases in unit cost,
including the two most widely used corticosteroids, clobetasol (96.2
percent) and triamcinolone (28 percent).
While the overall spending increase for traditional therapy classes
was nominal (0.6 percent), the primary factor for the increase in
spending came from specialty medications. Specialty medications require
special education and close patient monitoring, such as drugs to treat
cancer, multiple sclerosis or cystic fibrosis. Spending on specialty
drugs rose by 17.8 percent in 2015. The report found that 37.7 percent
of drug spending was for specialty drugs in 2015, and the figure is
expected to rise to 50 percent by 2018.
Spending in this category was topped by inflammatory conditions—such
as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases and psoriasis—which
rose by 25 percent, driven by a 10.3 percent increase in utilization
and 14.7 percent rise in unit cost. The average cost per prescription in
2015 was $3,035.95. The medications Humira Pen and Enbrel, which
captured more than 66 percent of the market share for this class, saw
unit cost increases of more than 17 percent.
Spending on oncology therapies increased by 23.7 percent, due to both
increased use (9.3 percent) and increased unit cost (14.4 percent). New
cancer therapies average $8,000 per prescription and the average cancer
regimen is around $150,000 per patient. Between 2005 and 2015, the
anti-cancer drug Gleevec, manufactured exclusively by Novartis, has seen
its price more than triple, with an annual cost of $92,000. In 2015,
the year prior to the drug’s patent expiration, Novartis increased the
unit cost of the drug by 19.3 percent. This is a common practice for
companies facing patent expiration.
Drug spending on cystic fibrosis treatments rose by a significant
53.4 percent, largely based on increases in unit cost (40.9 percent vs.
13.3 percent from patient utilization). This rise was largely due to use
of the new oral combination therapy, Orkambi, which became available in
mid-2015. The drug costs more than $20,000 per month.
The report forecasts that between 2016 and 2018 spending will
increase annually by 7-8 percent for traditional drugs and around 17
percent for specialty drugs.
The prices of generic drugs have on average decreased, although there
are notable exceptions. Pharmaceutical companies like Horizon Pharma,
Turing Pharmaceuticals, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals have purchased
generic drugs and then significantly hiked their prices.
The report notes the emergence of “captive pharmacies” in 2015 as
another factor responsible for higher drug spending. Captive pharmacies
are owned or operated by pharmaceutical manufacturers and tend to
promote their manufacturer’s drugs, rather than generic or other
low-cost alternatives. The report gives as examples the arrangements
between Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Philidor Rx Services, and between
Horizon Pharma and Linden Care Pharmacy.
The Express Scripts data matches the findings released earlier this
year by the Truveris OneRx National Drug Index, which found that branded
drugs rose by 14.8 percent in 2015.
Despite the widespread media publicity of the notorious drug price
hikes by companies like Turing and Valeant, pharmaceutical companies
have continued to
inflate prices in 2016, with Pfizer leading the way with an average price hike of 10.6 percent for 60 of its branded drugs.
Workers are rightly outraged at the skyrocketing price of drugs. A
Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted last year found that 74 percent
of respondents felt that the drug companies put profits before people.
The political establishment, however, has sought both to exploit this
anger for electoral support and to direct it into safe channels that do
not disrupt the status quo.
A congressional
hearing held in January placed a spotlight on the price-gouging practices of HYPERLINK
Valeant Pharmaceuticals and
Turing Pharmaceuticals, whose dubious activities were highlighted in a pair of congressional
memos.
The purpose of the hearing, however, was not probe the underlying
causes of the sharp rise in drug prices. Instead, legislators sought to
safeguard the profits of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole through a
verbal lambasting of the industry’s most notorious culprits.
Drug prices have also been a theme in the presidential campaign. The
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, for example, released a campaign
advertisement earlier this month attacking the “predatory pricing” of
Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Like the congressional hearing, this is all for
show. Of all the presidential candidates, Clinton is the top recipient
of donations from the pharmaceutical and health products industry,
taking in $410,460 according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Clinton’s rival, Bernie Sanders, who has stated that he will support
Clinton if he loses the Democratic nomination, received $82,094 in
donations from the industry. Sanders has proposed a series of minor
reforms to address drug prices, such as the re-importation of drugs from
Canada, allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers,
and decreasing the patent life of branded drugs.
None of the candidates, including the “democratic socialist” Sanders,
challenge the private ownership of the pharmaceutical industry in which
everything from research and development and clinical testing to drug
pricing and promotion are subordinated to the profit interests of
corporations.
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