Gagging on Democrat drug proposals

  • by: |
  • 11/13/2006
Medicare Drug Focus reports that new HIV drugs Atripla and Prezista have been quickly adopted by Part D plans. Some have flat co-pays while others have special tier payments until out of pocket costs exceed the catastrophic level.

Two points: Neither drug are on the VA formulary. In fact they are not even available on an off-formulary fashion for at least a year..

Second, if the Dems have their way, patients would have almost no commercial information about such new medicines. Zero. Zip. Is it ethical to impose a gag order on companies that want to tell patients about a medicine that is a critical part of a HIV drug cocktail make sense? What about a new drug for Parkinson's or Alzheimer's or cancer? How about an orphan drug that prevents a kid from dying from a rare metabolic disorder? Should it be against the law for a company to tell parents about such medicine? Put another way, who would trust an HMO to let people know about a new and expensive medication without prompting?
CMPI

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization promoting innovative solutions that advance medical progress, reduce health disparities, extend life and make health care more affordable, preventive and patient-centered. CMPI also provides the public, policymakers and the media a reliable source of independent scientific analysis on issues ranging from personalized medicine, food and drug safety, health care reform and comparative effectiveness.

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