Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Purdue Was Urged To Pay $14,000 Rebates Per Patient Hurt By Opioids, Documents Show
As Purdue Pharma faced serious challenges to OxyContin sales, the company was advised to consider paying rebates of up to $14,000 to health insurers for each patient who was harmed by its opioid painkiller in order to maintain those crucial business relationships, according to court documents. (Silverman, 11/19)
In other news —
Prescription drug costs have skyrocketed in the U.S. in recent years. But research from Columbia Business School in Morningside Heights found that access to newer medications increases patients' likelihood of taking them, improving health outcomes and decreasing care costs. The research, which was announced this week, from Frank Lichtenberg, professor of healthcare management, found that patients are 2.5% more likely to start and stay on a course of treatment for every 10-year decrease in a drug's time on the market. That's equivalent to a $0.35 reduction in copayment for each day of a patient's therapy. (Henderson, 11/19)
A top researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday said that artificial intelligence systems developed for medicine must be more transparent and judged against a set of common standards to ensure fairness and equity. (Ross, 11/19)
