Closer Look
Opinion: Will insulin ever be affordable?
Source: RAND Corp.; Chart: Patrick Skerrett/STAT
That long bar above means Americans pay up to 10 times more for lifesaving insulin than their international peers. A handful of states, joined by California last week, are filing lawsuits against drug manufacturers, accusing them of illegally jacking up the price of insulin. And the Inflation Reduction Act, which goes into effect this month, made news as the first federal legislation to address insulin costs, all as a recent study revealed that 20% of Americans with diabetes ration their insulin. But the lawsuits and the new law won't go far enough, Danielle Ofri writes in a First Opinion explaining how the drug-pricing sausage is made.
"I'm a physician, not an economist. But the diagnosis seems plain as day: greed," she writes. "America has decided that health care — unlike our water supply, education, the roads we drive on, and so much more — is not a fundamental right of its people. … Insulin is the poster-child for this uniquely American rapacity." Read more.
neurology
Study implicates common viruses in risk for neurodegenerative diseases
It's not just Epstein-Barr and multiple sclerosis. There are many more viral illnesses — many prevented by vaccines — that are being connected to neurodegenerative diseases, a new study in Neuron tells us. Drawing on data from FinnGen and the U.K. Biobank, researchers say 45 viral exposures, including severe flu with pneumonia, are tied to increased risk of these diseases up to 15 years later, just as concern grows about Covid and later neuropsychiatric problems.
The strongest association to show up links viral encephalitis and Alzheimer's, while flu with or without pneumonia was significantly associated with five of the six neurodegenerative conditions studied. Most of the associations involved viruses that can breach the blood-brain barrier by invading the central nervous system, then causing inflammation in the brain and lowering cognitive reserve, the theory goes. And vaccines protect against flu, shingles, and pneumonia, the authors note, possibly reducing risk. They also say "the Eurocentric nature of the resources could be expanded for more globally generalizable results."
drug pricing
For only the second time, a big drugmaker offers a warranty on a medicine
Here's something you don't see every day: Following in Pfizer's footsteps, drugmaker Sanofi is offering a money-back guarantee to hospitals if an expensive new treatment for a rare disease doesn't work. Sanofi's warranty program covers Cablivi, a treatment for a rare, life-threatening autoimmune blood disorder known as aTTP that can cause a medical emergency. The cost will be refunded for up to six doses ($47,500) for patients for whom the drug doesn't initially work or up to 12 doses ($95,100) for patients whose condition worsens.
Pfizer has begun offering warranties for two of its medicines, but its refunds go to patients — not hospitals — if the medicines fail to work well. The move comes as the pharmaceutical industry weathers anger from patients, health insurers, and hospitals about increasingly expensive new medicines, particularly cancer treatments and cell and gene therapies. STAT's Ed Silverman has more, including a couple of caveats from Sanofi.
By The Numbers
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