Drug prices'

A vial of the Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, Bivalent. Though the shots are free to pretty much anyone who wants one in the U.S. as long as federal stockpiles hold out, the next update of the vaccine might be costly for some people who lack health insurance.

Moderna's COVID vaccine gambit: Hike the price, offer free doses for uninsured

5:01am March 08, 2023

by Sydney Lupkin

Once U.S. stockpiles of COVID-19 vaccine run out, Moderna says it might charge as much as $130 per dose, but give people who lack health insurance a break. Critics say that's not enough help.

Paul Davis is a retired physician in Findlay, Ohio, who gets weekly treatments of the drug Kimmtrak to help stave off the progression of his rare cancer — uveal melanoma. He worries the accumulating cost of the drug — nearly $50,000/week if he has to pay it out of pocket — could saddle his family with crushing medical debt after he's gone.

Nearly $50,000 a week for a cancer drug? A man worries about bankrupting his family

5:00am February 14, 2023

by Fred Schulte

Medicare suddenly stopped paying for the pricey drug that prolongs his life. As he waits for an appeal, this retired physician wonders if he should give up treatment to spare his family the cost.

Patients Still Struggle To Balance High Costs Of MS Treatment, Despite Generic

9:00am January 20, 2020

by Sydney Lupkin

Drugs to treat multiple sclerosis can run $70,000 a year or more. Patients hoped competition from a generic version of one of the most popular brands would spur relief, but prices went up. Here's why.

A pharmacist collects packets of boxed medication from the shelves of a pharmacy in London, U.K. A proposal announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday would allow the government to directly negotiate the price of 250 U.S. drugs, using what the drugs

Health & Safety

How An 'International Price Index' Might Help Reduce Drug Prices

5:28pm September 19, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Drugmakers hate the idea. But Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump both say pegging the prices of U.S. medicine to what people elsewhere pay could save U.S. patients a bundle. Here's how an "IPI" might work.

Why Competition Hasn't Brought Down The High Price Of Snakebite Treatment

2:37pm August 08, 2019

by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

The snakebite antivenin CroFab, on the U.S. market since 2000, now faces competition from a drug called Anavip. But both are expensive. "Perverse incentives" keep prices high, says one legal scholar.

The Trump administration has suggested buying a prescription drug is like buying a car — with plenty of room to negotiate down from the sticker price. But drug pricing analysts say the analogy doesn't work.

Car Shopping, Handbags And Wealthy Uncles: The Quest To Explain High Drug Prices

4:48pm July 17, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Trump administration officials say drugs' list prices are like cars' sticker prices — easily negotiated. But in the life and death world of medicine, say price watchers, that analogy falls apart.

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Physicians complain that there's not yet a standard drug-pricing tool available to them that includes the range of medicine prices each of their patients might face — one that takes into account their particular pharmacy choice and health insurance plan

Health & Safety

Doctors Slow To Adopt Tech Tools That Might Save Patients Money On Drugs

10:14am July 05, 2019

by Phil Galewitz

A pricing tool embedded in many prescribing and medical records systems lets doctors see how much each patient is likely to pay out of pocket for medicine. But the tools could be better, doctors say.

Jake Powell, who works in New York City, is originally from Wyoming. Powell joined the PrEP4All movement after having to go off the drug for six months because it was too costly, even for someone with health insurance.

Old Fight, New Front: AIDS Activists Want Lower Drug Prices. Now!

3:37pm May 30, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

In the 1980s, ACT UP demanded action from the U.S. government and got results with drama. AIDS activists today have fresh tactics for their new goal: a more affordable HIV prevention pill.

"It shouldn't have happened," says Nicole Smith-Holt of Richfield, Minn., gazing at the death certificate of her son Alec Raeshawn Smith.

Insulin's High Cost Leads To Lethal Rationing

6:41pm September 01, 2018

by Bram Sable-Smith

Alec Raeshawn Smith was 23 when diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and 26 when he died. He couldn't afford $1,300 per month for his insulin and other diabetes supplies, so he tried to stretch the doses.

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French pharmaceutical group Sanofi is expected to receive an exclusive license to market a new Zika vaccine.

States Fear Price Of New Zika Vaccine Will Be More Than They Can Pay

3:42pm May 30, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

The vaccine against Zika vaccine was developed by the Army, with the government paying for clinical trials, too. Health officials want to be sure drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur doesn't make it unaffordable.

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