First, a comment regarding yesterday’s post: The Truth About Probiotics: Constipation Version

Some readers took issue with my pessimism with probiotics in terms of their effectiveness for several conditions, their safety and the number needed to treat (NNT). It is noted that the number needed to treat (NNT) with probiotics is better than with many other conditions.  For example, the NNT for benefit with the influenza vaccine, Tamiflu for influenza, and mammography for preventing breast cancer are much worse than the NNT for benefit with probiotics for conditions like NEC, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Clostridium difficile infection, and ulcerative colitis (with VSL#3). If one looks at multiple posts from this blog, there are plenty of posts supporting the use of probiotics (see some of the links yesterday or search “probiotics” on this blog.  Thus, it is important to not overlook the benefits of probiotics for many conditions and to not take a single study and extrapolate too much.

Now for today’s post -perhaps it will stir as much interest:

I must admit I’m fascinated with the way pharmaceutical companies operate and the creative ways they find to magnify their profits.  In previous posts, I’ve detailed how pharmaceutical companies will try to corner the generic market, increase the cost of liquid medicines, and package drugs in a way to force the purchase of additional vials of medicine among other tactics.  Now, a commentary (R Feldman, C Wang. NEJM 2017; 376: 1499-1501) details how pharmaceutical companies have increasingly used “the citizen-petition process that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented in the 1970s.”  This process was designed as “a way to voice concerns” by individual citizens.

Yet, this pathway is now being used to delay competition/entrance of generic drugs, mainly with frivolous claims.  In most cases, companies file these claims at the end of the approval process, almost always as a delaying tactic.  Approximately 80% of these actions by competitor drug companies are denied by the FDA.

Ultimately, these actions could be countered with antitrust actions; this, in fact, has occurred with Shire ViroPharma.  On February 7, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust action “alleging that the company abused regulatory processes by filing 43 submissions with the FDA (including 24 meritless citizen-petition filings within one docket) in an effort to hold off generic competition for its gastrointestinal drug Vancocin (vancomycin).”  However, antitrust actions are typically difficult to pursue and expensive.

My take: I think these tactics (and others) will undermine the relationship of pharmaceutical companies with consumers. While their stock holders may see benefits in the short term, I expect that other stake holders will fight back.  There are several targets in that endeavor, including ending limits on Medicare negotiating for better prices.

Related blog posts:

• 5000% Increase for Well-Established Drug
• Drug Waste Costing Billions. Who benefits? Pharmaceutical Companies
• How to Undermine Value Care: Lessons from Pharmaceuticals
• The Solution to Drug Prices” | gutsandgrowth
• Cornering the Generic Markup | gutsandgrowth
• Upside Down Incentives in Pharmaceutical Development -Profit …