Bursting the Bubble of Over-Inflated U.S. Insulin Prices Still Leaves Behind a Very Broken U.S. Prescription Drug " Market "
This report pulls back the curtain on the drivers of spiking prices. It ' s a perfect example of why we ought to continue pushing for bipartisan legislation and oversight to address this problem. " " This investigation makes clear that consumers are the only ones losing out in America ' s broken drug pricing system, since every part of the pharmaceutical supply chain benefits from higher list prices. Insulin manufacturers lit the fuse on skyrocketing prices by matching each other ’s price increases step for step rather than competing to lower them, while PBM ' s, acting as middlemen for insurers, fanned the flames t...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 22, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 insulin prices PBM USC Source Type: blogs
Podcast Episode Recommendation: Our Curious Amalgam Podcast Episode 212
My followers may be forgiven for their lack of awareness, but on October 23, 2022, the man who lead the PBM known as Express Scripts (owned by commercial healthcare insurance company Cigna since 2018) named George Paz died at relatively young age of 67. Mr. Paz began at Express Scripts in 1998 as CFO. By 2003, he was president and by 2005, CEO. Paz retired as CEO in 2016, although he remained chairman until Express Scripts was acquired by Cigna in December 2018. The local newspaper, theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch published his obituaryHERE). While he was an admired business leader in St. Louis, one of the things his comp...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 16, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 episode Express Scripts George Paz PBM podcast USC Source Type: blogs
The Insulin-PBM Rebate Kickback Scheme Appears to Be Coming to an End
Last year, on March 3, 2022, in what I believe was a fantastic accomplishment relatively early in Aaron Kowalski ' s tenure as CEO, the JDRF and Civica, Inc. (via the company ' s CivicaScript operating unit) jointly announced Civica ' s intention to commercialize biosimilars of the three bestselling insulin analogues at an affordable price of $30/vial or $55/box of five insulin pens. The Civica press release can be seen athttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005321/en/Civica-to-Manufacture-and-Distribute-Affordable-Insulin/ and a concurrent press release from JDRF can be seen athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 14, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Eli Lilly and Company 2023 Civica CivicaRx CivicaScript drug prices FTC insulin insulin prices JDRF Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk Pharma Source Type: blogs
The Insulin-PBM Rebate Kickback Scheme Appears to Coming to an End
Last year, on March 3, 2022, in what I believe was a fantastic accomplishment relatively early in Aaron Kowalski ' s tenure as CEO, the JDRF and Civica, Inc. (via the company ' s CivicaScript operating unit) jointly announced Civica ' s intention to commercialize biosimilars of the three bestselling insulin analogues at an affordable price of $30/vial or $55/box of five insulin pens. The Civica press release can be seen athttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005321/en/Civica-to-Manufacture-and-Distribute-Affordable-Insulin/ and a concurrent press release from JDRF can be seen athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 14, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Eli Lilly and Company 2023 Civica CivicaRx CivicaScript drug prices FTC insulin insulin prices JDRF Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk Pharma Source Type: blogs
Podcast Episode Recommendation: Politico Pulse Check, Episode 398
My followers may recall that I have previously shared a particular podcast (the episode I sharedhttps://blog.sstrumello.com/2023/01/podcast-episode-recommendation-politico.html was about Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company), specifically a podcast known as Politico Pulse Check. For a quick refresher, Politico describes its Pulse Check podcast this way: " Politico Pulse Check delivers the latest news in healthcare with sharp policy analysis and a dose of real-world perspective " . In other words, " Pulse Check " is about healthcare and healthcare policy emanating from Washington, DC.Anyway, on February 23, 2023, Politico Puls...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 13, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Congress PBM ' Pharmacy Benefit Managers politico rebate reform Source Type: blogs
Dexcom Spends Big on Super Bowl Ad to Hype New G7 Claiming " Feels Like Magic " ; But Formulary Exclusions Aren't Magic
This month was the U.S. NFL ' s Super Bowl #57; the two teams which played one another were the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs, and the Kansas City Chiefs were the winners in a close game throughout. For a moment, let ' s just overlook that Kansas City ' s team name is rooted in the same racism against indigenous native Americans (after all, the team ' s logo is an arrowhead, which was created by native Americans) the same view ultimately forced the old Washington Redskins to change the team name to the Washington Commanders), and let ' s instead focus on this year ' s game advertising. Whil...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 18, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Business of Diabetes 2023 Abbott Advertising business strategy CGM CGMS Dexcom Freestyle Libre Super Bowl Source Type: blogs
The Business of Diabetes: Dexcom Spends Big on Super Bowl Ad to Hype New G7 Claiming " Feels Like Magic " ; But the Ad Isn't Magic
This month was the U.S. NFL ' s Super Bowl #57; the two teams which played one another were the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs, and the Kansas City Chiefs were the winners in a close game throughout. For a moment, let ' s just overlook that Kansas City ' s team name is rooted in the same racism against indigenous native Americans (after all, the team ' s logo is an arrowhead, which was created by native Americans) the same view ultimately forced the old Washington Redskins to change the team name to the Washington Commanders), and let ' s instead focus on this year ' s game advertising. But Misso...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 18, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Business of Diabetes 2023 Abbott Advertising business strategy CGM CGMS Dexcom Freestyle Libre Super Bowl Source Type: blogs
Two More Podcast Episode Recommendations
Today, I ' m recommending TWO seperate podcast episodes which you might find informative.They come from Dr. Zubin Damania, MD who ' s an internist who describes himself as a UCSF/Stanford-trained physician and he calls his weekly podcast as ZDoggMD. The other one is an interview with Dr. Marion Mass, MD who is a Pediatrician working in Chalfont, PA whom I ' ve come to respect for her efforts to expose systematic wrongdoing in the business of healthcare.I ' ll start with ZDoggMD ' s recent podcast episode. I ' m posting the YouTube version of his February 14, 2022 podcast entitled " The Ugly Truth Behind Soaring Drug Prices...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 15, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Marion E. Mass Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company podcast Source Type: blogs
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company ( " MCCPDC " ) PBC May Be Able to Say " Mission Accomplished " Even if Sales Stop Growing
On January 19, 2022, a startup called theMark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company ( " MCCPDC " )opened its doors to the American public as a new online pharmacy and generic manufacturing startup. Initially, MCCPDC was also planning to launch its own Pharmacy Benefit Manager, but it later scrapped those plans, instead announcing several PBM partnerships with some PBM startups which do not engage in " spread pricing " , including on generic, biosimilar and " authorized generic " drugs. The company bears the name of its famous principal investor, multibillionaire Mark Cuban, who is perhaps best known as both owner of the NBA te...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 7, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: authorized generic 2023 Alex Oshmyansky authorized generics Biosimilar biosimilars Cost Plus costplus drug company drug prices drug pricing generic drugs mark cuban Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company Source Type: blogs
Podcast Episode Recommendation: The Huddle Conversations with the ADCES Diabetes Care Team
First of all, I need to acknowledge that ADCES is a trade organization for the Association of Diabetes Care& Education Specialists, which is the most recent name for one of the associations for diabetes educators. Frankly, I am only recommending this particular podcast episode, but honestly, I cannot really recommend a subscription to its podcast; in fact, I don ' t even remember what the organization ' s old name was because it seems to have changed its name so many times over the years. Beyond that, ADCES tends to focus far more extensively on subjects related to Type 2 diabetes since that group constitute...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 1, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Aaron Kowalski ADCES Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists Civica Civica Rx CivicaRx CivicaScript JDRF podcast Source Type: blogs
Costco Wholesale: What Is Its Pharmacy Strategy? It's Complicated.
Conclusion: Costco Pharmacy Manages Hybrid Cash/Insurance Payments for Rx Drugs Better Than Most Other Big Pharmacy Chains. Still, Costco Won ' tALWAYS Be the Low-Price Leader Because of How the U.S. Prescription Drug Market Functions.Costco Pharmacy ' s cash prices for many prescriptions may be low enough for people to simply bypass their insurance and pay out-of-pocket, which Costco welcomes, similar to how Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. or a number of other rapidly-growing, cash-only pharmacies which are popping up nationwide operate because their cash prices may be potentially even cheaper than by using insurance. Howev...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 21, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Big pharma bypass insurance cash pharmacy cash-only pharmacy Costco Costco Wholesale Corp. PBM ' Source Type: blogs
Farewell, Landleigh Nelson. I (and others in the Diabetes Community) Will Miss You.
Over the weekend, I learned that Landileigh Lee (nee James) Nelson died on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. As many of her friends knew, in recent years, Landileigh (or as those closest to her called her " Landi " ) had been dealing with a number of health issues. She faced seemingly one health issue after another, including dialysis which began at one point. And yet she handled it all incredibly gracefully and with her typical sense of humor, which was one reason I was proud to call Landileigh my friend.In 2017, Landi posted that she had gotten a new haircut on Facebook. I thought it was a nice photo of her, and this is how I w...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 18, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Landi Landileigh Nelson Obituary passage tribute Source Type: blogs
Farewell, Landleigh Nelson. I (and others) in the Diabetes Community Will Miss You.
Over the weekend, I learned that Landileigh Lee (James) Nelson died on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. As many of her friends knew, in recent years, Landileigh (or as those closest to her called her " Landi " ) had been dealing with a number of health issues. She faced seemingly one health issue after another, including dialysis which began at one point. And yet she handled it all incredibly gracefully and with her typical sense of humor, which was one reason I was proud to call Landileigh my friend.In 2017, Landi posted that she had gotten a new haircut on Facebook. I thought it was a nice photo of her, and this is how I wish ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 18, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Landi Landileigh Nelson Obituary passage tribute Source Type: blogs
Podcast Episode Recommendation: Politico Pulse Check - Can Mark Cuban disrupt prescription drugs?
Next up on my podcast episode recommendations. Today ' s recommended podcast comes fromPolitico, which is a media outlet that has a podcast called "Pulse Check" . Politico describes its Pulse Check podcast this way: " Politico Pulse Check delivers the latest news in healthcare with sharp policy analysis and a dose of real-world perspective " . In other words, the " Pulse Check " podcast is about healthcare and health care policy emanating from Washington, DC.On December 20, 2022, Politico Plus Check interviewed Mark Cuban about his cash-payCost Plus Drug Company. Before I get to the episode itself, I must acknowledge that ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 10, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Costco mark cuban politico pulse check podcast Source Type: blogs
Podcast Recommendation: Selected Episides of Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms
So, my next podcast recommendation is for two specific episodes ofDiabetes Connections with Stacey Simms, and more specifically two in which she discusses the Civica insulin announcement which was first announced on March 3, 2022 (see the original Civica press release athttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005321/en/Civica-to-Manufacture-and-Distribute-Affordable-Insulin/ or the concurrent JDRF press release athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jdrf-announces-support-of-civica-to-manufacture-and-distribute-low-cost-insulin-301495050.html). Many people subscribe to Diabetes Connections, although I ' m s...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 9, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Aaron Kowalski Civica Civica Rx CivicaRx GeneSys Biologics Ned McCoy Stacey Simms Source Type: blogs
