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The drug middlemen that promise to control costs have instead steered patients toward higher-priced medicines and affiliated pharmacies—steps that increase spending and reduce patient choice, a House investigation found. The pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, have devised formularies of preferred medicines that encouraged use of higher-priced drugs over lower-priced alternatives, the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability found. (Whyte, 7/23)

As lawmakers and industry groups seek to get a handle on U.S. drug shortages, a new white paper from German market analytics firm QYOBO supports the thesis that disproportionately low prices for generic medicines can make it difficult for drugmakers to keep supplies afloat. Chief among the insights from QYOBO’s research, the company discovered that net sales prices for drugs that have faced shortages in recent years have plummeted in many cases. (Kansteiner, 7/22)

The number of active drug shortages fell to 300 in the second quarter of this year after hitting an all-time high of 323, according to a tracker from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. It's the sixth straight quarter with at least 300 drugs on shortage, many of them critical to patient outcomes, the pharmacists' group said. (Reed, 7/22)

Pfizer’s blockbuster drug tafamidis for the treatment of the rare heart disease transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) needs at least a 96% discount off its list price to be considered cost-effective under common benchmarks. The finding came from a draft report (PDF) published Wednesday by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an influential organization focused on evidence-based drug-cost analysis. (Liu, 7/18)