An Ascension physician recently testified on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to advocate on behalf of patients for affordable, life-saving prescription drugs.
Richard Fogel, MD, FACC, FHRS, Chief Clinical Officer at St. Vincent Health, of the Ascension Indiana Ministry Market, testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on why rising drug prices are contrary to Ascension’s goals of improving the health of populations, reducing the cost of care, and enhancing the patient and provider experience.
Ascension supports solutions that would keep drug prices as low as possible and maintain important discounts to hospitals that serve persons who are most vulnerable.
The Senate committee held its third in a series of hearings to explore recent hyperinflation in pharmaceutical pricing and investigate pharmaceutical companies that are establishing business models to impose and protect unreasonably high drug price increases. The committee focused on practices of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., whose representatives provided testimony during the hearing’s second panel.
On the first panel, Dr. Fogel joined a patient living with Wilson disease, a rare inherited disorder that causes too much copper to accumulate in the liver, brain and other vital organs. The patient was forced to switch medications after prices of a drug manufactured by Valeant increased astronomically. Another speaker was a doctor who is an associate professor and director of the Wilson Disease Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan Health System. All witnesses discussed the impacts soaring pharmaceutical cost increases can have on patients.
Dr. Fogel shared his firsthand experience as a cardiologist specializing in electrophysiology in seeing the impact of price increases in two drugs in particular: Isuprel and Nitropress, whose prices have increased significantly. He noted that these two drugs are preferred by many physicians, and sometimes there are no good alternatives; physicians will not recommend switching to an alternative unless the switch is evidence-based and will not have an adverse impact on patients.
“What I find particularly troubling is when drugs that have been around for decades are suddenly and steeply increased with no apparent justification,” Dr. Fogel said.
A recent report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics estimated that U.S. drug spending increased by 8.5 percent last year – more than any other year in the past decade except for a double-digit spike in 2014. At Ascension, drug spending has increased 11 percent over the last year, resulting in an increase of $73.9 million in drug spending from February 2015 to February 2016.
The New York Times ran a story about the hearing, including a quote from Dr. Fogel.
Ascension encourages drug manufacturers, healthcare providers, legislators and regulators to work together to ensure medications are available and affordable for all who need them.
Click here to read Dr. Fogel’s written testimony.
