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News and Reports

Washington Post: “Trump vows ‘insurance for everybody’ in Obamacare replacement plan”

January 15, 2017 Robert Costa and Amy Goldstein President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare […]

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New York Times: “Harnessing the U.S. Taxpayer to Fight Cancer and Make Profits”

December 19, 2016 Matt Richtel and Andrew Pollack Enthusiasm for cancer immunotherapy is soaring, and so is Arie Belldegrun’s fortune. Dr. Belldegrun, a physician, co-founded Kite Pharma, a company that could be the first to market next year with a highly anticipated new immunotherapy treatment. But even without a product, Dr. Belldegrun has struck gold. […]

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US News: “The Harm of High Drug Prices”

December 12, 2016 Hagop Kantarjian and Vivian Ho The problem of high cancer drug prices in the United States was highlighted in 2013, following a decade during which the average annual price of newly introduced cancer drugs increased from less than $10,000 to more than $100,000 in 2012. In a for-profit health care industry, drug […]

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New York Times: “Lives and Profits in the Balance: The High Stakes of Medical Patents”

December 11, 2016 Clyde Haberman “The West Wing,” Aaron Sorkin’s television series about a fictional White House, had a knack for crisply summarizing complex real-life issues. In an episode from 2000, pharmaceutical executives and leaders of an AIDS-plagued African country are summoned to the White House. The purpose is to see if reluctant businessmen can […]

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Project on Government Oversight: “In FDA Meetings, "Voice" of the Patient Often Funded by Drug Companies”

December 1, 2016 David S. Hilzenrath At an August 15, 2016, public forum convened by the Food and Drug Administration, panelist Marc Boutin introduced himself as CEO of National Health Council and said his organization provides “a united voice for people with chronic disease and disabilities.” Speaking at the agency’s invitation, he proceeded to praise […]

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Cancer Therapy Advisor: “Is Drugmaker Funding for Patient Groups a Hidden Culprit in Rising Drug Prices?”

November 30, 2016 Bryant Furlow Drugmakers contribute $50 million each year to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, more than a sixth of the group’s overall funding. Colon Cancer Alliance receives more than half of its funding—more than $1 million a year—from industry.1 PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s lobby, asserts that drugmakers have a “natural alliance” with […]

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Mayo Clinic: “Industry Funding of Cancer Patient Advocacy Organizations”

November 16, 2016 Matthew V. Abola, BA, Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH Cancer patient advocacy organizations (PAOs) often demand faster drug approval and easier access to cancer medications with uncertain benefits and harms.1 Previous research has found that a sizable percentage of PAOs across all disease types receive funding from the biopharmaceutical industry2, 3; as such, […]

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National Multiple Sclerosis Society: “National Multiple Sclerosis Society Calls For Change to Improve Access to MS Medications”

Washington DC — When Abigail Bostwick, 36, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013, she never thought it would hit her as hard as it has — not physically — but financially. “Our savings quickly drained. We’ve sold a lot of our things. We live paycheck to paycheck,” said Bostwick. Like many people living with […]