After Cost Spike In Right-To-Die Drug, Group Concocts Cheaper Alternative
Doctors with the End of Life Washington have come up with a drug mixture that would cost $500, and officials in California are considering using it as well.
The Associated Press:
Right-To-Die Group Comes Up With New, Cheaper Medication
Right-to-die advocates in Washington state have created a cheaper alternative mixture of medications to help terminally ill patients legally end their lives after a drug company abruptly hiked the price of a drug commonly used for the purpose. Doctors with the End of Life Washington advocacy group concocted the alternative for about $500, after Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Quebec acquired the drug and jacked up the price to about $3,000, The Seattle Times reported. ... Doctors in Oregon have also adopted the drug mixture. Officials in California, where a similar law takes effect later this year, are considering it as well. (4/3)
In other pharmaceutical news, rheumatoid arthritis drug prices are going up —
Modern Healthcare:
Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Prices On The Rise
Rheumatoid arthritis drug prices have risen steeply over the past three years, despite little to no change in composition, experts and insurers say. The wholesale cost of Enbrel, a drug used to treat a number of chronic conditions, has increased 80.3% since 2013, and now exceeds $4,000 for a 30-day supply, according to data gathered by the Alliance of Community Health Plans. The price of Humira went up 68.7% to roughly $3,700 in the same time frame, and the price of Xeljanz rose 44.3% to over $3,100. ... Thousand Oaks, Cali.-based Amgen, which sells Enbrel, said in a statement that its prices reflect “economic value that is delivered to patients, providers and payers, the unmet medical need, the size of the patient population, the investment and risk undertaken, and the need to fund continued scientific innovation.” (Rubenfire, 4/1)