[HN Gopher] Dubious $56,000 Alzheimer's drug spurs largest Medic...
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Dubious $56,000 Alzheimer's drug spurs largest Medicare price hike
ever
Author : samizdis
Score : 52 points
Date : 2021-11-15 18:43 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
| datavirtue wrote:
| $65k per year medications are Biogens specialty. They payup a
| patient's full out of pocket for them when they start on this.
| Really cools tension over the price for those receiving the drug.
| samlosodesign wrote:
| I love how a Biogen conference was responsible for one of the
| biggest initial outbreaks of Covid, and now every senior will be
| responsible for paying $20 more per month for a drug of theirs
| that has no clinical efficacy whatsoever.
|
| When will they ever get what's coming to them? One must wonder...
|
| Things are really starting to feel like France at the turn of the
| 18th century.
| bhouston wrote:
| > When will they ever get what's coming to them? One must
| wonder...
|
| It is probably best to accept that there is no such thing as
| Karma in life. We don't live in a Hollywood blockbuster where
| the good guys win all the time no matter what the odds.
| djohnston wrote:
| I am aligned with this and it pushes me towards vigilantism.
| In the words of big Sean "if you want the crown bitch you
| gotta take it", although here the crown is more the
| abolishment of the new aristocracy.
| andrei_says_ wrote:
| Not sure when exactly but definitely after election financing
| reform.
| TrackerFF wrote:
| Somewhat related: Why is it that the US needs middle-men to
| negotiate prices - that is, why can't Medicare just negotiate the
| prices themselves?
|
| If I understand it right, that's what other countries do.
| Countries with universal healthcare systems are basically the
| only buyer, and can drive a hard bargain. Yet the US needs for-
| profit middle-men, that can't seem to get a price as good other
| countries...but yet they're supposed to perform better than
| Medicare? Doesn't make any sense (to an outsider)
| wefarrell wrote:
| Not only that, but the middle men are permitted to receive
| rebates from the manufacturers. Rebates like that are illegal
| in all other industries except pharma.
| quickthrowman wrote:
| > Why is it that the US needs middle-men to negotiate prices -
| that is, why can't Medicare just negotiate the prices
| themselves?
|
| Pharmaceutical companies bribe--sorry, lobby--members of
| Congress so those members of Congress vote against letting
| Medicare negotiate pricing.
|
| Since money is speech, (see Citizens United v FEC) the one with
| the most money wins.
| colinmhayes wrote:
| Congress doesn't allow it. Biden tried to get this into the
| reconciliation bill, but Manchin rejected it.
| [deleted]
| vmception wrote:
| As you form your observation, a few notes:
|
| Other developed countries have a variety of systems, but they
| typically do at least have a public option (available to all).
|
| US middle men are not trying to get a good price.
|
| US consensus failures on this are based on fear of the
| government, entrenched interests, lack of inspiration on what
| specifically to change, coincidental convenience as the status
| quo keeps people preoccupied and risk averse, and a large very
| sick population that really would massively increase taxpayer
| costs in the first several years no matter how it would
| equalize in a longer term.
| ZetaZero wrote:
| "The Medicare Prescription Drug Act expressly prohibited
| Medicare from negotiating bulk prescription drug prices."
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,_Im...
| Gunax wrote:
| There is rightly focus on whether this drug works, but the more
| interesting question is "assuming it does work, what then?".
|
| Now you opened up the balance of cost and effectiveness. Therein
| lies the nest of vipers.
| bradleyjg wrote:
| That's a solved problem. The solution is called QALYS. Richer
| or poorer countries can set the total budget differently and
| then QALYS tells you how to spend it.
| denimnerd42 wrote:
| that does not at all sound controversial
| Shadonototra wrote:
| I don't understand how can people advocate for this kind of
| society.. it's depressing
| Ericson2314 wrote:
| Politicians whip out the inflation boogieman to wage class
| warfare, and of course simultaneously also do stupid things like
| that will just make it worse.
| Barrin92 wrote:
| _" Meanwhile, Biogen had set the list price at $56,000 per year.
| Media analyses suggested that at that price, the drug could cost
| Medicare up to $334.5 billion per year, which is nearly half of
| the budget for the Department of Defense[...]In November 2020, a
| committee of independent advisers for the Food and Drug
| Administration voted nearly unanimously against FDA approval for
| Aduhelm. The data did not indicate the drug is effective, the
| committee concluded. Ten of 11 committee members voted against
| approval while one voted "uncertain." But in June of this year,
| the FDA approved the drug anyway"_
|
| That's almost twice of the entire NHS healthcare spending for one
| drug that probably doesn't do anything for Alzheimer patients?
| This isn't actually going through at the end of the day right?
| The US healthcare, drug and regulatory system has lost the plot,
| that's just nuts.
|
| And what on earth is going on at the FDA to approve this? Even if
| I was a literal pharma lobbyist I would probably skip that one
| because it just sounds too wrong
| treeman79 wrote:
| Medical industry is about milking the government for everything
| possible. Actually helping people is secondary.
| elhudy wrote:
| FDA doesn't approve based on the projected costs to the system.
| That's the underlying problem. There is no political mechanism
| to say "no, this treatment won't be covered by medicare."
| Further, such a mechanism would be wildly unpopular with your
| average voter. Nobody wants to deny their grandmas coverage to
| anything, and it's a huge burden on the system and contributor
| to inflation.
| criddell wrote:
| Can intellectual property be made public through eminent domain
| the same way physical property can be?
| missedthecue wrote:
| Biogen had 'only' ~$13 billion in revenue in 2020, and won't do
| much better in 2021. If this one drug is really going to 25x
| their top line, why has the stock barely budged?
| sjg007 wrote:
| My guess is that nobody will prescribe it?
| kadoban wrote:
| That sounds like a bad bet. Pharma ads are allowed to
| target patients directly, so people will ask their doctor
| for it, and pharma reps are cozy with doctors, so at least
| some doctors will go for it themselves.
|
| This really requires some fix at the FDA or somewhere in
| the government or it's going to be a disaster.
| pedalpete wrote:
| Yeah, but there is so much publicity around the efficacy
| of the drug, people might not ask for it, and doctors
| might advise against it, or just refuse to write a
| script, particularly at that price.
| kadoban wrote:
| You have far too much faith in people, especially
| scared/hurting people.
| lupire wrote:
| Comparing to NHS is mismatched units.
|
| But it's 12% of all Medicare premiums
| kwertyoowiyop wrote:
| It's really annoying to watch the scare-tactic ads by the drug
| companies against allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. "Oh
| don't let them take away my precious drugs!!"
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