STAT Plus: Pharma execs criticize a drug maker over pricing and claim orphan drug law is being misused
Several prominent biotech and pharmaceutical executives are openly criticizing a huge price hike for a decades-old medicine and argue that the unexpectedly higher cost is due to the misuse of a federal law designed to encourage drug development for rare diseases. And the executives are using this to bolster a social compact they issued last month to address the debate over rising drug costs.
At issue is dehydrated alcohol, which hospitals and clinics have used for years to treat chronic pain or to prevent infections in patients who must receive nutrients intravenously. But after winning orphan designation and a seven-year monopoly to sell its injectable version for use with a specific heart procedure, Belcher Pharmaceutical began charging nearly $10,000 for a pack of 10 vials, up from $1,300.
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