Alphabet, formerly known as Google, has decided to enter the health insurance business according to a CNBC report. The entry of big data companies into health insurance could have significant impact on costs. The Alphabet health subsidiary is called Verily. Why might big data companies affect costs of care? They have tremendous capabilities to know […]
While branded DTC Ads dominate the spending, there are some drug makers investing heavily in disease education. Most do it because when they have a drug for the disease coming out shortly or are in the introductory physician awareness phase for a newly approved drug. They usually have the only drug available for the condition […]
Amazon, JP Morgan, and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway have announced a joint venture to improve healthcare coverage for their three companies. There are a lot of unknowns as to what this means for the broader healthcare sector. Is this just the start of Amazon disrupting how insurance is provided? Or, is it more limited to […]
I thought I woke up in a dystopian 1984 world when I saw an article on the low number of warning and untitled letters issued to drug companies in 2017. Written in the NY Daily News on 12/11/17 the article bemoaned the fact that only three letters were issued in 2017 compared to eleven in 2016. Somehow […]
In the latest attempt to kill DTC, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) tried to amend the Trump tax bill with an elimination of the tax deductibility of DTC as a business expense. It was defeated. This is the umpteenth time this tactic has been tried by Congress hostile to the drug industry. I have lots of […]
Time to have a little fun with the unknown. Predictions are nice for stimulating discussion so here goes. The DTC spending will increase modestly in 2018 by around 5%. Some of that increase is media cost inflation. So, I am expecting a strong year but not a boom in spending. FDA will not take any […]
ViiV drug Triumeq for HIV just launched a television campaign. HIV drugs have not used television historically choosing instead targeted print as its main media. The number of people who have HIV is about 1.1 million in the United States. HIV can be successfully treated and newer drugs have turned what was once a deadly […]
A week ago, my wife Debra broke her hip in a fall. The experience has given me a better appreciation of our health care system. While not perfect, I am impressed with the speed and quality of the care American style. That is, the for profit hospital was interested in her satisfaction as a customer. […]
The widely reported story that Amazon is considering entering the prescription drug market has made current drug sellers nervous. Could Amazon revolutionize drug sales? Or, would they just be another mail order supplier in a crowded market? The answer is unclear. Amazon certainly has the strength to cut deals with drug companies, insurers and major […]
My question to the DTC community is why can’t we come together with FDA and make DTC advertising more understandable. I am not talking just about risks but also benefits and indications. We are all letting the approved label dictate how we say what we say. That label information is generally not consumer friendly. Consumers […]
