The Cost of Medications: Current Realities and the Future of Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulations in the United States October 4, 2017 12:00 PM Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East B (2036) Harvard Law School From “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli to huge price jumps for the EpiPen to the Hepatitis C treatment that costs $1000 per pill, pharmaceutical pricing…
By James Love Vinay Prasad and Sham Mailankody’s JAMA Internal Medicine study on the costs of research and development (R&D) when bringing a single cancer drug to market has sparked renewed discussion about how to measure R&D costs as well as the relationship between R&D costs and prices. What follows is my perspective on the…
James Love is joining Bill of Health as a regular contributor. James Love is the Director of Knowledge Ecology International, where his research focuses on the production, management and access to knowledge resources, and aspects of competition policy. This includes work on the financing of R&D, intellectual property rights, prices for and access to new…
Cross-posted from the CRITical Thinking blog. By Jeanie Kim The “right to try” (RTT) movement presents a narrative that pits patients against the FDA. Supporters of RTT, powered by the libertarian Goldwater Institute, have pushed for laws that let terminally ill patients bypass regulators to access unapproved treatments. As of September 2017, 37 states have enacted RTT laws.…
By Rachel Sachs Yesterday, it was announced that Allergan had transferred the ownership of the patents on its billion-dollar drug Restasis, used for the treatment of chronic dry eye, to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The Tribe then exclusively licensed the drug back to Allergan, in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in both…
By Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair Last year Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) refused free vaccinations for pneumonia from Pfizer, who had offered the medicines as a corporate donation to the humanitarian organisation. The explanation MSF provided (available here) makes for an interesting, if uncomfortable read. Looming large is the lengthy history of negotiations between MSF with the…
By Ameet Sarpatwari, Michael S. Sinha, and Aaron S. Kesselheim Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division. Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers…
By Ameet Sarpatwari, Michael S. Sinha, and Aaron S. Kesselheim Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division. Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers identified…
Join us at the Centre for Information and Innovation Law (CIIR) Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen on 20 November, 2017 to discuss Legal Perspectives on Synthetic Biology and Gene Editing. CALL FOR PAPERS Emerging technologies in Synthetic Biology and Gene Editing offer incredible opportunities and promising solutions to some of the most urgent challenges faced by…
By Abraham Gutman The legal status of medical marijuana in the United States is unique. On one hand, the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug with no acceptable medical use and high potential for abuse. On the other hand, as of February 1, 2017, 27 states and the District of…
