We’ve posted several articles/editorials about high and
seemingly eternally rising drug costs. Doctors, patients, and more recently,
the U.S. Senate has weighed in. Will any of this make a difference?
In December, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a
study showing the drug company Gilead didn’t consider affordability
to patients when setting the price of a new Hepatitis C medication at $1,000 a pill. This
kind of cost is not uncommon.
In a rather long open
letter to drug manufacturer Gilead, Senate Finance Committee Chairman
Senator Ron Wyden and Member Senator Charles Grassle ask a long series of
questions about the drug, drug development, drug pricing, marketing costs,
conflicts of interest, and much more.
Although this study focused on a single drug, the concern
covers the spectrum of new drugs across the drug industry. The letter doesn’t
offer solutions but asked for openness in price setting and ways to manage
patient access to the new super-expensive drugs. It is a plea for transparency
in the entire drug creation process. Who does what, who knows what, who gets
paid for what, etc.
We ask you to click on the open letter link to see all
the questions, comments, and requests.
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To put a smile on your face see Larry's latest cartoon.
To learn more about clinical trials, take a look at our book.
(c) 2012 Tom Beer and Larry Axmaker
