October 6, 2016
Since the advent of biosimilars, experts and pundits have debated how reduced biosimilar prices will be and just much savings the follow-on drugs will offer.
September 29, 2016
Innovative but costly anti-cancer drugs have spurred the development of several value assessments and cost frameworks, all designed to explore one question: Do the benefits of these treatments justify their price? Now, new research published in Health Affairs suggests that these treatments may significantly extend the life expectancy of some cancer patients.
September 27, 2016
New data show that street drugs, not prescription opioids, directly caused 85 percent of opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts during 2013 and 2014.
September 23, 2016
Medicine is at a crossroads; cardiology in particular. I saw this fact magnified at the American Society for Preventive Cardiology’s recent town hall on access barriers to PCSK9 inhibitors.
September 22, 2016
What if discussing clinical trials opportunities were a standard part of patient care? This question spurred discussion among members of a diverse panel at a recent Coalition for Clinical Trials Awareness roundtable event.
September 20, 2016
A United Nations panel has a controversial idea for improving patient access to necessary medicines: curb intellectual property rights.
September 16, 2016
Along with other advocacy, education and health care organizations, the Institute for Patient Access wrote to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review this week offering 12 suggestions on how to improve its value framework. The letter responded to ICER’s request for feedback as it prepares to update its framework for 2017.
September 15, 2016
Data from a clinical study in Norway may soon explain the effects of switching stable patients from a biologic medicine, infliximab, to its biosimilar counterpart. But, as the Global Alliance for Patient Access argues in a new white paper, policymakers must accurately interpret what the NOR-SWITCH study will – and will not – demonstrate about the safety of switching.
September 13, 2016
Most young children encounter what’s known as Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, before age two. It’s a common seasonal virus with flu-like symptoms. But as a new video from the National Coalition for Infant Health explains, premature infants whose health plans don’t cover preventive RSV treatment may suffer – and unnecessarily so.
September 8, 2016
Opioid and heroin abuse is an epidemic that kills 78 Americans every day, explains a new video from the Alliance for Patient Access. But as federal agencies, state lawmakers, professional organizations and inter-agency collaborations lay out different plans for addressing the epidemic, people must ask: Which plans will work? And which will curb abuse without undermining legitimate medical care for patients in pain?
