{"id":9351,"date":"2016-10-20T16:35:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T00:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug\/"},"modified":"2016-10-20T16:35:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T00:35:00","slug":"lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Question Price Hikes For Leukemia Drug"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/10\/20\/498769340\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\">Richard Gonzales<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/10\/20\/498769340\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2016\/10\/20\/ap_16294658340141-5d7848b30cd9929c94d6d01955627a925ca5880e-s1100-c15.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button>Enlarge this image<\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., are pictured in Washington last year. Sanders and Cummings are demanding information from a drug company that repeatedly has raised prices on a leukemia drug. <strong>Susan Walsh\/AP<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>toggle caption<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><span>Susan Walsh\/AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another pharmaceutical company is coming under fire for boosting the price of one of its drugs. Two lawmakers are demanding to know the justification for a more than $80,000 price hike for a year&#8217;s supply of a drug that treats leukemia patients.<\/p>\n<p>As NPR&#8217;s Alison Kodjak reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;The drug is called Iclusig and it was approved in 2012 to treat a subset of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sanders.senate.gov\/download\/letter-to-ariad?inline=file\">letter<\/a> to Ariad Pharmaceuticals asking it to explain the medication&#8217;s $200,000 price tag.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The two lawmakers say the company boosted the price repeatedly and at the same time cut the dose, effectively raising the costs even more.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the letter, the lawmakers demanded details about the company&#8217;s profits and any programs it offers to cut patient costs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sanders recently has taken up the fight against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/137895\/next-phase-bernies-revolution-already-begun\">escalating drugs costs<\/a> and Cummings is senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.<\/p>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/hosted.ap.org\/dynamic\/stories\/U\/US_CONGRESS_LEUKEMIA_DRUG?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT\">Associated Press<\/a> reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;According to data from Truven Health Analytics, the list price for a year&#8217;s supply of Iclusig tablets has increased from $114,960 in 2012 to $198,732 in October 2016.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>During that period, says the AP, the drug Iclusig was linked to life-threatening blood clots. Ariad took the drug off the market temporarily, then re-introduced it in late 2013 with added warnings and recommended it for a small subset of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.<\/p>\n<p>Ariad&#8217;s price hike was first reported earlier this month by <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/story\/13844437\/1\/how-ariad-pharma-used-a-safety-problem-to-jack-up-the-price-of-a-cancer-drug.html\">The Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Ariad says the price hikes are justified because Iclusig &#8216;addresses an area of high unmet medical need in an ultra-orphan patient population of around 1,000-2,000 patients per year.&#8217; &#8220;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As we have reported, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/09\/21\/494879607\/mylan-ceo-claims-epipens-arent-as-profitable-as-everyone-thinks\">Mylan Pharmaceuticals faced criticism<\/a> this year over the price of EpiPen, which is used to treat allergic reactions, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/02\/04\/465548279\/no-comment-from-grinning-martin-shkreli-at-house-hearing-on-drug-prices\">as did Turing Pharmaceuticals<\/a> last year for the cost of Daraprim, which treats a deadly parasitic infection.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fivefilters\/block-ads\/wiki\/There-are-no-acceptable-ads\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/10\/20\/498769340\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Lawmakers Question Price Hikes For Leukemia Drug\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/10\/20\/498769340\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/10\/20\/498769340\/lawmakers-question-price-hikes-for-leukemia-drug?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2016\/10\/20\/ap_16294658340141-5d7848b30cd9929c94d6d01955627a925ca5880e-s1100-c15.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button>Enlarge this image<\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., are pictured in Washington last year. Sanders and Cummings are demanding information from a drug company that repeatedly has raised prices on a leukemia drug. <strong>Susan Walsh\/AP<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>toggle caption<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><span>Susan Walsh\/AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another pharmaceutical company is coming under fire for boosting the price of one of its drugs. Two lawmakers are demanding to know the justification for a more than $80,000 price hike for a year&#8217;s supply of a drug that treats leukemia patients.<\/p>\n<p>As NPR&#8217;s Alison Kodjak reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;The drug is called Iclusig and it was approved in 2012 to treat a subset of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sanders.senate.gov\/download\/letter-to-ariad?inline=file\">letter<\/a> to Ariad Pharmaceuticals asking it to explain the medication&#8217;s $200,000 price tag.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The two lawmakers say the company boosted the price repeatedly and at the same time cut the dose, effectively raising the costs even more.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the letter, the lawmakers demanded details about the company&#8217;s profits and any programs it offers to cut patient costs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sanders recently has taken up the fight against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/137895\/next-phase-bernies-revolution-already-begun\">escalating drugs costs<\/a> and Cummings is senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.<\/p>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/hosted.ap.org\/dynamic\/stories\/U\/US_CONGRESS_LEUKEMIA_DRUG?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT\">Associated Press<\/a> reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;According to data from Truven Health Analytics, the list price for a year&#8217;s supply of Iclusig tablets has increased from $114,960 in 2012 to $198,732 in October 2016.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>During that period, says the AP, the drug Iclusig was linked to life-threatening blood clots. Ariad took the drug off the market temporarily, then re-introduced it in late 2013 with added warnings and recommended it for a small subset of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.<\/p>\n<p>Ariad&#8217;s price hike was first reported earlier this month by <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/story\/13844437\/1\/how-ariad-pharma-used-a-safety-problem-to-jack-up-the-price-of-a-cancer-drug.html\">The Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Ariad says the price hikes are justified because Iclusig &#8216;addresses an area of high unmet medical need in an ultra-orphan patient population of around 1,000-2,000 patients per year.&#8217; &#8220;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As we have reported, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/09\/21\/494879607\/mylan-ceo-claims-epipens-arent-as-profitable-as-everyone-thinks\">Mylan Pharmaceuticals faced criticism<\/a> this year over the price of EpiPen, which is used to treat allergic reactions, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/02\/04\/465548279\/no-comment-from-grinning-martin-shkreli-at-house-hearing-on-drug-prices\">as did Turing Pharmaceuticals<\/a> last year for the cost of Daraprim, which treats a deadly parasitic infection.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fivefilters\/block-ads\/wiki\/There-are-no-acceptable-ads\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}