Posts Tagged ‘profiteering’

Skimming Profits, Sowing Disparities, and Dimming Prospects

February 12, 2025 — The revolution in obesity care brought on by semaglutide and tirzepatide is beginning to look a little shaky, says Tina Reed on Axios. The U.S. healthcare system is skimming profits from them, thus sowing disparities, and quite possibly dimming the prospects for broad gains in health. Peter Antall is Chief Medical Officer at the digital […]

Exploiting People with Obesity Through Abusive Copays

December 13, 2024 — Some pharmacy benefit plans have taken a dark turn when it comes to obesity medicines. Let’s not sugarcoat it. They are exploiting people with obesity through abusive copays on drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic – two brands of semaglutide. These PBMs pretend they are covering part of the cost of the drug. But in fact, […]

The Cost of Shamelessness in Healthcare

October 13, 2024 — We are witnessing quite a number of battles unfolding and harming innocent people in diverse settings. They range from actual wars to political contests to the lucrative business of healthcare. A common thread in all of these situations is shamelessness in pursuing money, power, or both. That shamelessness is especially troubling when it pops up […]

Intense Questions in the Senate on Obesity Drug Pricing

September 25, 2024 — This was definitely a textbook case of sitting in the hot seat. For more than two hours the CEO of Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, faced intense questions in the Senate HELP Committee about drug pricing for the company’s diabetes and obesity medicines. If you want a sense of the tone for the hearing, consider […]

Biosimilars and PBMs: The Joke’s on Us

April 12, 2023 — Two innovations in health systems and health policy – PBMs and biosimilars – are supposed to save us money on drugs. But so far, it looks like the joke is on us. PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) can actually drive prices higher. Their stated purpose is just the opposite – to drive drug costs down. Adding […]