Hello, everyone, and how are you today? A shiny sun is warming the Pharmalot campus, where the birds are chirping, the official mascot is w watering the weeds and a short person is enjoying a well-deserved break from an institution of higher learning. As for us, we are immersed in the usual rituals – foraging and phoning around. We trust that you relate. So please join us as we quaff a cup of stimulation – our choice today is butter pecan – and get on with the day at hand. Hope yours goes well and do stay in touch…
Back in 2019, when the U.S. Senate Finance Committee called seven drug industry executives to testify, it seemed like proof that Washington was within striking distance of actually reining in high prices. Almost exactly three years later, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the committee, will chair another hearing on prescription drug pricing, STAT notes. But this is not a victory lap, nor an opportunity to look at implementation of the sweeping changes Congress has made to this country’s drug pricing system. Instead, it’s shaping up to be another sleeper hearing, a run-of-the-mill show for academics and advocacy organizations to argue about the root causes of high drug prices.