Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division.

Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers identified from the month of December. The selections feature topics ranging from the rising price of the opioid reversal agent naloxone, to the interpretation of surrogate endpoints in the era of the 21st Century Cures Act, to a comparative assessment of pharmaceutical licensing and reimbursement in the European Union, United States, and Japan. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Califf RM, Robb MA, Bindman AB, Briggs JP, Collins FS, Conway PH, et al. Transforming Evidence Generation to Support Health and Health Care Decisions. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(24):2395-2400.
  2. Gupta R, Shah ND, Ross JS. The Rising Price of Naloxone – Risks to Efforts to Stem Overdose Deaths. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(23):2213-2215.
  3. Oye KA, Eichler HG, Hoos A, Mori Y, Mullin TM, Pearson M. Pharmaceuticals Licensing and Reimbursement in the European Union, United States, and Japan. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2016;100(6):626-632.
  4. Knopf K, Baum M, Shimp WS, Bennett CL, Faith D, Fishman ML, Hrushesky WJ. Interpretation of surrogate endpoints in the era of the 21st Century Cures Act. BMJ. 2016;355:i6286.
  5. Robertson C, Kesselheim AS. Regulating Off-Label Promotion – A Critical Test. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(24):2313-2315.
  6. Sinha MS, Kesselheim AS. Regulatory Incentives for Antibiotic Drug Development: A Review of Recent Proposals. Bioorg Med Chem. 2016;24(24):6446-6451.
  7. Wolf MS, Davis TC, Curtis LM, Bailey SC, Knox JP, Bergeron A, Abbet M, Shrank WH, Parker RM, Wood AJ. A Patient-Centered Prescription Drug Label to Promote Appropriate Medication Use and Adherence. J Gen Intern Med. 2016;31(12):1482-1489.

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division.

Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers identified from the month of November. The selections feature topics ranging from industry funding of cancer patient advocacy organizations, to the shared responsibility between the FDA and CMS, to active surveillance of follow-on biologics. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Abola MV, Prasad V. Industry Funding of Cancer Patient Advocacy Organizations. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016;91(11):1668-1670.
  2. Bauer SR, Redberg RF. Improving the Accelerated Pathway to Cancer Drug Approvals. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Nov. [Epub ahead of print]
  3. Califf RM, Sherman RE, Slavitt A. Knowing When and How to Use Medical Products: A Shared Responsibility for the FDA and CMS. JAMA. 2016 Nov 29. [Epub ahead of print]
  4. Robertson C, Kesselheim AS. Regulating Off-Label Promotion – A Critical Test. N Engl J Med. 2016 Nov 2. [Epub ahead of print]
  5. Sarpatwari A, Gagne JJ, Levidow NL, Kesselheim AS. Active Surveillance of Follow-on Biologics: A Prescription for Uptake. Drug Saf. 2016 Nov 12. [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Xu J, Gill R, Cruz M, Staffa J, Lurie P. Effect of US Food and Drug Administration-Approved Pediatric Labeling on Dispensing of Extended-Release Oxycodone in the Outpatient Retail Setting. JAMA Pediatr. 2016;170(11):1103-1104.

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division.

Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers identified from the month of October. The selections feature topics ranging from the failure of investigational drugs in late-stage clinical development, to the impact of Medicaid expansion on health care utilization, to impact of a bundled Medicare reimbursement policy on major adverse cardiovascular events among dialysis recipients. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Dafny LS, Ody CJ, Schmitt MA. Undermining Value-Based Purchasing – Lessons from the Pharmaceutical Industry. N Engl J Med. 2016 Oct. [Epub ahead of print]
  2. Doshi P. Is this trial misreported? Truth seeking in the burgeoning age of trial transparency. 2016;355:i5543.
  3. Hwang TJ, Carpenter D, Lauffenburger JC, Wang B, Franklin JM, Kesselheim AS. Failure of Investigational Drugs in Late-Stage Clinical Development and Publication of Trial Results. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Oct. [Epub ahead of print]
  4. Kesselheim AS, Avorn J. Approving a Problematic Muscular Dystrophy Drug: Implications for FDA Policy. 2016 Oct. [Epub ahead of print]
  5. Sommers BD, Blendon RJ, Orav EJ, Epstein AM. Changes in Utilization and Health Among Low-Income Adults After Medicaid Expansion or Expanded Private Insurance. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(10):1501-9.
  6. Tominaga T, Miyazaki S, Oniyama Y, Weber AD, Kondo T. The Japanese Postmarketing Adverse Event Relief System: A confluence of regulatory science, the legal system, and clinical pharmacology. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2016 Oct. [Epub ahead of print]
  7. Wang C, Kane R, Levenson M, Kelman J, Wernecke M, Lee JY, Kozlowski S, Dekmezian C, Zhang Z, Thompson A, Smith K, Wu YT, Wei Y, Chillarige Y, Ryan Q, Worrall C, MaCurdy TE, Graham DJ. Association Between Changes in CMS Reimbursement Policy and Drug Labels for Erythrocyte-Stimulating Agents With Outcomes for Older Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis Covered by Fee-for-Service Medicare. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Oct. [Epub ahead of print]

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division. Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers identified from the month of September.

  1. Bouvy JC, Huinink L, De Bruin ML. Benefit-risk reassessment of medicines: a retrospective analysis of all safety-related referral procedures in Europe during 2001-2012. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016;25(9):1004-14.
  2. Gupta R, Kesselheim AS, Downing N, Greene J, Ross JS. Generic Drug Approvals Since the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(9):1391-3.
  3. Kister I, Corboy JR.Reducing costs while enhancing quality of care in MS. Neurology. 2016 Sep 2. [Epub ahead of print]
  4. Kleijnen S, Lipska I, Leonardo Alves T, Meijboom K, Elsada A, Vervölgyi V, d’Andon A, Timoney A, Leufkens HG, De Boer A, Goettsch WG. Relative effectiveness assessments of oncology medicines for pricing and reimbursement decisions in European countries. Ann Oncol. 2016;27(9):1768-75.
  5. Lin D, Lucas E, Murimi IB, Jackson K, Baier M, Frattaroli S, Gielen A, Moyo P, Simoni-Wastilla L, Alexander GC. Physician attitudes and experiences with Maryland’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). Addiction. 2016. [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Oye KA, Eichler HG, Hoos A, Mori Y, Mullin TM, Pearson M. Pharmaceuticals Licensing and Reimbursement in the European Union, United States and Japan. Clin Pharamcol Ther. 2016. [Epub ahead of print]
  7. Mailankody S, Prasad V. Thinking Systematically About the Off-Label Use of Cancer Drugs and Combinations for Patients Who Have Exhausted Proven Therapies. Oncologist. 2016;21(9):1031-2.
  8. Sanders GD, Neumann PJ, Basu A, Brock DW, Feeny D, Krahn M, Kuntz KM, Meltzer DO, Owens DK, Prosser LA, Salomon JA, Sculpher MJ, Trikalinos TA, Russell LB, Siegel JE, Ganiats TG. Recommendations for Conduct, Methodological Practices, and Reporting of Cost-effectiveness Analyses: Second Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. JAMA. 2016;316(10):1093-103.
  9. Xu J, Gill R, Cruz M, Staffa J, Lurie P. Effect of US Food and Drug Administration-Approved Pediatric Labeling on Dispensing of Extended Release Oxycodone in the Outpatient Retail Setting. JAMA Pediatr. 2016. [Epub ahead of print]

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, in-depth analyses, and thoughtful editorials on pharmaceutical law and policy.

Below are the papers identified from the month of August. The selections feature topics ranging from the impact of prescription drug monitoring programs and pill mill laws on high-risk opioid prescribers, to the impact of formulary drug exclusions on patient health outcomes and costs, to the origins of and possible solutions to high prescription drug prices in the United States. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Chang HY, Lyapustina T, Rutkow L, Daubresse M, Richey M, Faul M, Stuart EA, Alexander GC. Impact of prescription drug monitoring programs and pill mill laws on high-risk opioid prescribers: A comparative interrupted time series analysis. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016;165:1-8.
  2. Chambers JD, Rane PB, Neumann PJ. The impact of formulary drug exclusion policies on patients and healthcare costs. Am J Manag Care. 2016;22(8):524-31.
  3. Doshi JA, Lim R, Li P, Young PP, Lawnicki VF, State JJ, Troxel AB, Volpp KG. A Synchronized Prescription Refill Program Improved Medication Adherence. Health Aff. 2016;35(8):1504-12.
  4. Fleischman W, Agrawal S, King M, Venkatesh AK, Krumholz HM, McKee D, Brown D, Ross JS. Association between payments from manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to physicians and regional prescribing: cross sectional ecological study. BMJ. 2016;354:i4189.
  5. Green AK, Wood WA, Basch EM. Time to Reassess the Cancer Compendia for Off-label Drug Coverage in Oncology. JAMA. 2016 Aug. [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Hey SP, Kesselheim AS. The FDA, Juno Therapeutics, and the ethical imperative of transparency. BMJ. 2016;354:i4435.
  7. Kesselheim AS, Avorn J, Sarpatwari A. The High Cost of Prescription Drugs in the United States: Origins and Prospects for Reform. JAMA. 2016;316(8):858-71.
  8. Sarpatwari A, Gagne JJ. Balancing benefits and harms: privacy protection policies. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016;25(8):969-71.
  9. Wolf MS, Davis TC, Curtis LM, Bailey SC, Knox JP, Bergeron A, Abbet M, Shrank WH, Parker RM, Wood AJ. A Patient-Centered Prescription Drug Label to Promote Appropriate Medication Use and Adherence. J Gen Intern Med. 2016 Aug. [Epub ahead of print]

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, in-depth analyses, and thoughtful editorials on pharmaceutical law and policy.

Below are the papers identified from the month of July. The selections feature topics ranging from the reporting of clinical trial subgroup effects in top medical journals, to an assessment of generic drug approvals since the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act, to the impact of proposed Medicare Part D reforms on cancer drugs. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Gabler NB, Duan N, Raneses E, Suttner L, Ciarametaro M, Cooney E, Dubois RW, Halpern SD, Kravitz RL. No improvement in the reporting of clinical trial subgroup effects in high-impact general medical journals. Trials. 2016;17(1):320.
  2. Gagne JJ, Han X, Hennessy S, Leonard CE, Chrischilles EA, Carnahan RM, Wang SV, Fuller C, Iyer A, Katcoff H, Woodworth TS, Archdeacon P, Meyer TE, Schneeweiss S, Toh S. Successful comparison of US Food and Drug Administration Sentinel analysis tools to traditional approaches in quantifying a known drug-adverse event association. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2016 Jul 14. [Epub ahead of print].
  3. Gupta R, Kesselheim AS, Downing N, Greene J, Ross JS. Generic Drug Approvals Since the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Jul 18. [Epub ahead of print].
  4. Haffner ME. The history of orphan drug regulation – US and Beyond. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2016 Jul 9. [Epub ahead of print].
  5. Hoekman J, Klamer TT, Mantel-Teeuwisse AK, Leufkens HG, De Bruin ML. Characteristics and follow-up of postmarketing studies of conditionally authorized medicines in the EU. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2016;82(1):213-26.
  6. Luo J, Kesselheim AS. Protecting Pharmaceutical Patents and Test Data: How the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Could Affect Access to Medicines in the US and Abroad. AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(7):727-35.
  7. Mailankody S, Prasad V. Implications of Proposed Medicare Reforms to Counteract High Cancer Drug Prices. JAMA. 2016;316(3):271-2.
  8. van Staa TP, Goldacre B, Buchan I, Smeeth L. Big health data: the need to earn public trust. BMJ. 2016 Jul 14;354:i3636.

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, in-depth analyses, and thoughtful editorials on pharmaceutical law and policy.

Below are the papers identified from the month of June. The selections feature topics ranging from lessons from the history of randomized controlled trials, to the prevalence and predictors of generic drug skepticism among physicians, to the availability and dissemination of results from FDA-mandated post-approval studies of medical devices. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Bothwell LE, Greene JA, Podolsky SH, Jones DS. Assessing the Gold Standard–Lessons from the History of RCTs. N Engl J Med. 2016;374(22):2175-81.
  2. Gellad WF, Good CB. Prescription of Brand-Name Medications When Generic Alternatives Are Available-Patently Unfair. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Jun 27. [Epub ahead of print]
  3. Hwang TJ, Sokolov E, Franklin JM,  Kesselheim AS. Comparison of rates of safety issues and reporting of trial outcomes for medical devices approved in the European Union and United States: cohort study. BMJ. 2016;353:i3323.
  4. Ioannidis JP. Why Most Clinical Research Is Not Useful. PLoS Med. 2016;13(6):e1002049.
  5. Kesselheim AS, Gagne JJ, Eddings W, Franklin JM, Ross KM, Fulchino LA, Campbell EG. Prevalence and Predictors of Generic Drug Skepticism Among Physicians: Results of a National Survey. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(6):845-7.
  6. Kesselheim AS, Gagne JJ, Franklin JM, Eddings W, Fulchino LA, Avorn J, Campbell EG. Variations in Patients’ Perceptions and Use of Generic Drugs: Results of a National Survey. J Gen Intern Med. 2016;31(6):609-14.
  7. Luo J, Seeger JD, Donneyong M, Gagne JJ, Avorn J, Kesselheim AS. Effect of Generic Competition on Atorvastatin Prescribing and Patients’ Out-of-Pocket Spending. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Jun 27. [Epub ahead of print]
  8. Moore TJ, Furberg CD, Mattison DR, Cohen MR. Completeness of serious adverse drug event reports received by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016 Jun;25(6):713-8.
  9. Quesada O, Yang E, Redberg RF. Availability and Dissemination of Results From US Food and Drug Administration-Mandated Postapproval Studies for Medical Devices. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Jun 27. [Epub ahead of print]
  10. Sarpatwari A, Kesselheim AS. Navigating the Dermatological Drug Cost Curve. JAMA. 2016;315(24):2724-5.
  11. Sarpatwari A, Avorn J, Kesselheim AS. State Initiatives to Control Medication Costs–Can Transparency Legislation Help? N Engl J Med. 2016;374(24):2301-4.
  12. Schwartz LM, Woloshin S, Zheng E, Tse T, Zarin DA. ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA: A Comparison of Results Reporting for New Drug Approval Trials. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Jun 14. [Epub ahead of print]

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, in-depth analyses, and thoughtful editorials on pharmaceutical law and policy.

Below are the papers identified from the month of May. The selections feature topics ranging from a review of progress in the fight against multidrug-resistant bacteria, to the role regulators can play in increasing the affordability of drugs, to an assessment of the strength of the surrogate-survival relationship for cancer drugs approved on the basis of surrogate endpoints. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Deak D, Outterson K, Powers JH, Kesselheim AS. Progress in the Fight Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria? A Review of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Approved Antibiotics, 2010-2015. Ann Intern Med. 2016 May 31. [Epub ahead of print]
  2. Eichler HG, Hurts H, Broich K, Rasi G. Drug Regulation and Pricing–Can Regulators Influence Affordability? New Engl J Med. 2016 May 12;374(19):1807-9.
  3. Hey SP, Weijer C. What questions can a placebo answer? Monash Bioeth Rev. 2016 May 17. [Epub ahead of print]
  4. Kapczynski A, Kesselheim AS. ‘Government Patent Use’: A Legal Approach To Reducing Drug Spending. Health Aff. 2016 May 1;35(5):791-7.
  5. Kim C, Prasad V. Strength of Validation for Surrogate End Points Used in the US Food and Drug Administration’s Approval of Oncology Drugs. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 May 10. [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Outterson K, McDonnell A. Funding Antibiotic Innovation With Vouchers: Recommendations On How To Strengthen A Flawed Incentive Policy. Health Aff. 2016 May 1;35(5):784-90.
  7. Patel MS, Day SC, Halpern SD, Hanson CW, Martinez JR, Honeywell S Jr, Volpp KG. Generic Medication Prescription Rates After Health System-Wide Redesign of Default Options Within the Electronic Health Record. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 May 9. [Epub ahead of print]
  8. Yeh JS, Franklin JM, Avorn J, Landon J, Kesselheim AS. Association of Industry Payments to Physicians With the Prescribing of Brand-name Statins in Massachusetts. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 May 9. [Epub ahead of print]

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, in-depth analyses, and thoughtful editorials on pharmaceutical law and policy.

Below are the papers identified from the month of April. The selections feature topics ranging from the FDA’s plan to help tackle prescription opioid misuse, to physicians’ knowledge about FDA drug approval standards and breakthrough therapy designation, to a proposal to delink antibiotic reimbursement from sales “using a graded array of benchmarked rewards.” A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Califf RM, Woodcock J, Ostroff S. A Proactive Response to Prescription Opioid Abuse. N Engl J Med. 2016 Apr 14;374(15):1480-5.
  2. Goldacre B, Gray J. OpenTrials: towards a collaborative open database of all available information on all clinical trials. 2016 Apr 8;17(1):164.
  3. Kesselheim AS, Woloshin S, Eddings W, Franklin JM, Ross KM, Schwartz LM. Physicians’ Knowledge About FDA Approval Standards and Perceptions of the “Breakthrough Therapy” Designation. 2016 Apr 12;315(14):1516-8.
  4. Rex JH, Outterson K. Antibiotic reimbursement in a model delinked from sales: a benchmark-based worldwide approach. Lancet Infect Dis. 2016 Apr;16(4):500-5.
  5. Woloshin S, Schwartz LM. US Food and Drug Administration Approval of Flibanserin: Even the Score Does Not Add Up. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Apr 1;176(4):439-42.

Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, in-depth analyses, and thoughtful editorials on pharmaceutical law and policy.

Below are the papers identified from the month of March. The selections feature topics ranging from the characteristics and follow-up of post-marketing studies or conditionally authorized medicines in the European Union; to changes in prescription drug, over the counter drug, and dietary supplement use among older adults in the United States; to an assessment of the logic of Amarin’s off-label promotion of Vascepa. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Hey SP, Kesselheim AS. An Uninformative Truth: The Logic of Amarin’s Off-Label Promotion. PLoS Med. 2016 Mar 15;13(3):e1001978.
  2. Hoekman J, Klamer TT, Mantel-Teeuwisse AK, Leufkens HG, De Bruin ML. Characteristics and follow-up of post-marketing studies of conditionally authorised medicines in the EU. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2016 Mar 18. [Epub ahead of print].
  3. Kapczynski A. Free Speech and Pharmaceutical Regulation-Fishy Business. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Mar 1;176(3):295-6.
  4. Massey PR, Wang R, Prasad V, Bates SE, Fojo T. Assessing the Eventual Publication of Clinical Trial Abstracts Submitted to a Large Annual Oncology Meeting. 2016 Mar;21(3):261-8.
  5. Qato DM, Wilder J, Schumm LP, Gillet V, Alexander GC. Changes in Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medication and Dietary Supplement Use Among Older Adults in the United States, 2005 vs 2011. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Mar 21. [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Yeh JS, Sarpatwari A, Kesselheim AS. Ethical and Practical Considerations in Removing Black Box Warnings from Drug Labels. Drug Saf. 2016 Mar 21. [Epub ahead of print]