How Pfizer set the cost of its new drug at $9,850 a month | Wall Street Journal
When questioned about high prices for new drugs, pharmaceutical executives routinely cite the need to recoup the costs of drug research and development. An in-depth look at Pfizer's pricing strategy for its new breast cancer drug Ibrance reveals a process that relies more on comparable products and what the market will bear.
Report: House 21st Century Cures orphan drug proposal a 'windfall' for pharma | Public Citizen
A 21st Century Cures provision allowing a drugmaker who wins approval for a new orphan indication on an existing FDA-approved drug to have an extra six months of monopoly protections for all indications on the drug would delay generics, drive up health costs by as much as $11.6 billion, and hamper development and approval of new orphan drugs as drug manufacturers seek orphan indications for existing blockbusters. That's according to a new report by consumer protection group Public Citizen, which also notes that existing incentives for orphan drug development render additional sweeteners unnecessary.
Primary care physicians report challenges caring for patients with complex health needs | Commonwealth Fund
Nearly a quarter of U.S. physicians are not prepared to care for patients with multiple chronic conditions, and 84% said they're not prepared to care for patients with serious mental illness, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey of primary care providers. That suggests the U.S. needs to do more to foster primary care coordination and improve infrastructure, the report said.
Doctors dispute FDA's ruling on uterine fibroid technique | Reuters
Some gynecologists are urging the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its position prohibiting the use of power morcellators in fibroid surgery, saying the agency relied on a flawed analysis to determine the number of women who may have a hidden cancer that could be spread by morcellation. The doctors also say a restriction on the devices has removed the only minimally invasive option available, and cite a corresponding increase in surgical complications and readmissions since the restrictions on morcellation were put into place a year ago.
Who will manage outbreaks? A crisis looms for infectious disease specialists | STAT
Over a third of infectious disease fellowships went unfilled at this year's fellowship match day, a showing one infectious disease expert called "an historic bad" which comes on the heels of several years of unfilled fellowship matches. That's raising alarm that interest in the specialty is waning as need for infectious disease specialists, who handle issues like antibiotic resistance and disease outbreaks, is on the rise.
