TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 8 29 "I look at these cancer drugs that add a few weeks or months of life, that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I don't think it's worth it." said Osama Mikhail, Ph.D., a professor of management, policy and community health at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health and a former executive with drug maker Eli Lilly. End direct-to-consumer advertising Since the mid-1990s, Americans have been treated to television advertisements of happy people practicing yoga, riding bicycles and relaxing in outdoor bathtubs, thanks to the power of prescription drugs. Historically, pharmaceutical firms only promoted their products to health care providers, but eventually they realized aging baby boomers were an untapped market. Now, direct-to-consumer advertisements are so controver- sial that the American Medical Association has called for them to be banned. "Patients think because there's an ad, [the drug] must work for everyone who takes it," said Vivian Ho, Ph.D., director of the Center for Health and Biosciences at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. "That's why you should get rid of the advertising. It's not getting patients the information doctors would want them to have." Doctors say consumers pressure them to prescribe the pricey drugs they see on TV, and often, those doc- tors are unwilling to say no for fear of losing the patient. When doctors acquiesce, everyone pays for it, and costs go up. Banning the ads would be a dramatic move that could raise the industry's hackles, but it would actu- ally put the U.S. on standing with the rest of the world. Only one other developed country, New Zealand, allows similar direct-to-consumer prescription drug marketing. Require greater price transparency Drug costs in the U.S. are largely based on supply and demand. When lives are at stake, the sky's often the limit for prices. "They're like an unscrupulous grocery store in the middle of a hurricane that jacks up its prices to take advantage of people," said Stan Dorn, a senior fellow with the non- profit advocacy group Families USA. The drug industry has long maintained that any efforts to curb costs could threaten innovation, but health policy experts are skeptical. "I think we should attack the drug companies' continued refrain that whatever you do to them is going to stop innovation," said Arthur "Tim" Garson Jr., M.D., direc- tor of the Health Policy Institute at the Texas Medical Center. "They [shouldn't] say that anymore with- out showing us actual data." Dento LIFT Featuring LIVE CE COURSES FOR PHYSICIANS, DENTISTS & NURSES 30-Min Treatment + Botox + Fillers + PRP Course Includes: DentoX LIFT $5500 Tuition for $2999 Instant Face Lifting Results BEFORE AFTER 713-714-4201 FOR CLASS INFO CALL Dentox.com Online courses: dentox.com/online Live courses: dentox.com/live 35+ Year Private Practice & International Educator In Aesthetics Co-created the only FDA approved human injectible of 2008-2009 Holds 5 medical patents (and named on the patent application of all botulinum toxins) President of The International Association of Dentofacial Esthetics (IADE) Collaborated with The Largest Aesthetics Pharmaceutical Companies (Including Allergan Medicis & Prollenium) About DR. HOWARD KATZ A 2016 study published by a Tufts University research center estimated that the average cost to develop and get approval for a new drug is $2.6 billion. But that num- ber drew skepticism, with critics questioning the methodology of the study, the opaque nature of the data and the fact that the center itself is industry-funded. A better number to focus on, some say, is the drug industry's profit margins. Kaiser Health News, for example, found that 10 of the top publicly traded U.S. drugmakers earned $83.6 billion in profits on revenue of $306 billion in 2016— a healthy 27 percent pretax profit margin. A bipartisan bill by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) would require drugmakers to notify the federal government and submit a report if they raise certain drug prices by 10 percent in one year, or 25 percent over three years. (continued)

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