Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Are Drugs Too Expensive Or Too Cheap?; There Is Big Money To Be Made In Obesity Meds
American medicine is a tragic paradox. An example: Cancer patients are likely dying as a result of drug shortages that occurred partly because generic chemotherapies have been allowed to become too cheap. At the same time, other patients are suffering, and perhaps dying, because the financial burden brought on by the expensive medicines they need is too high. (Matthew Herper, 8/15)
While the diet industry is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, frequently offering more false hopes than a political campaign, the tide appears to be turning thanks to the billions to be made by Big Pharma who have set their sights on the obesity epidemic. (Doug McIntyre, 8/13)
One year ago this week, I joined President Joe Biden as he signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. This transformational law finally reversed longstanding legal restrictions put in place by a Republican Congress 20 years ago that explicitly prevented Medicare from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies on the prices seniors pay for prescription drugs. (Frank Pallone, 8/14)
