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Opinion: Reduce drug spending by drastically simplifying monopolies on drugs

STAT

spending on prescription drugs was almost $800 billion. Although low-cost generic drugs filled 91% of all prescriptions, the 9% of prescriptions filled with a branded medicine accounted for 84% of drug spending. In 2024, total U.S.

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STAT+: Elevance PBM’s president out as customers complain of prescription chaos

STAT

Paul Marchetti, the head of insurer Elevance Health’s pharmacy benefit manager, has left the company amid a wave of consumer complaints about patients receiving incorrect medicines or being unable to get their prescriptions filled.

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Opinion: Shortages of generic drugs can’t be blamed solely on group purchasing organizations

STAT

More than 90% of prescriptions filled that year were for generics or biosimilars, up from just over 18% the year that Hatch-Waxman was passed. The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, which gave rise to the modern generic drug market, was one of the most significant cost-reducing policy innovations of the last 40 years.

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FTC report finds PBM power has “dire consequences”

pharmaphorum

The six largest PBMs in the US manage nearly 95% of all prescriptions filled in the US, a “concentrated market structure” that has allowed them to “profit at the expense of patients and independent pharmacists,” according to the financial regulator.

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Cap on Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs in Inflation Reduction Act Increased Prescription Fills

Pharmacy Times

Thousands more people filled their insulin prescriptions following the introduction of the cap in January 2023, especially compared to those who were not enrolled in Medicare, a new study finds.

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Adderall Shortage Drives Shift to Alternative ADHD Medications in Children

PharmExec

Prescription data between 2017 and 2023 revealed that while Adderall prescription fills decreased following the shortage, many children transitioned to alternative stimulants for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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ASBM Urges Congress to Support EPIC Act: Remove IRA’s “Pill Penalty” to Ensure Continued R&D for Small-Molecule Drugs

Safe Biologics

Small-molecule drugs typically come in pill or tablet form, and comprise 90% of prescriptions filled in the U.S. On February 25th, the House of Representatives introduced the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act (H.R. 1492) an important step toward fixing the Inflation Reduction Acts (IRA) small molecule pill penalty.