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Republicans are worried about their re-election prospects in 2020, and one result is a frenzy to “do something” on high drug prices. Yet two of the latest ideas are standbys of the left: foreign importation and pricing penalties, which are more about politics than results for patients. The Trump Administration says it intends to explore ways “to allow safe importation of certain prescription drugs to lower prices and reduce out of pocket costs for American patients,” as Health and Human Services said in a press release. (8/18)

Headlines proclaimed, “Illinois just became the first state to require insurance companies to cover EpiPen injectors for kids.” This followed an Aug. 14 tweet from Governor J.B. Pritzker: “I was proud to sign … laws expanding insurance coverage for children whose allergies require lifesaving EpiPens ...” ...As a physician, the hoopla seemed strange. What insurance company would not already cover a lifesaving, standard-of-care medicine like epinephrine? Wouldn’t the company risk significant liability if somebody died as a result? How would insurers survive the adverse publicity? Perhaps that was why, after 30 years on the market no other states mandate coverage of epinephrine injections? (Roger D. Klein, 8/18)

Chronic disease is the leading cause of disability and death in the United States. Six in 10 US adults live with at least one chronic condition. And 4 in 10 adults battle two or more. It's also a major driver of health care spending, accounting for 90 cents of every dollar spent. Unfortunately, new efforts on Capitol Hill could make matters worse. Some lawmakers are pushing to weaken vital intellectual property protections for new medicines that improve health, reduce side effects and help patients take their medicines as prescribed. (Randall Rutta, 8/20)

For a small biotechnology firm, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. has made a lot of waves at the Food and Drug Administration. The 2016 approval of its first drug, Exondys 51 – which targetings the deadly muscle-wasting disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) – caused a schism at the agency. A highly organized and vocal group of parents and patients saw hope for boys otherwise resigned to a short and challenging life, helping it gain green-light status, while an agency detractor called the drug an “elegant placebo.” Sarepta’s second drug-approval attempt didn’t go so well. (Max Nisen, 8/20)

The high cost of prescription drugs and that market’s maddening complexity have become almost more than the private sector can bear. A fight taking place in Washington right now is over how much control the federal government should exert over the prices of drugs that Medicare buys for its millions of clients. One thing is clear: The pharmaceutical industry should understand that, sooner or later, the government will exert more control over drug prices than it does now. (8/17)