Ben Rome
@benro.me
Primary care doc, health policy researcher @portalresearch.org. Trying to make prescription drugs more affordable. 💊🩺📊
New in Pediatrics led by @benro.me and John Kim showing increase in leucovorin use after FDA statements/publicity: publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...
Use of Leucovorin After the FDA Announcement of Its Use for Autism Spectrum Disorders
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. Leucovorin, or folinic acid (vitamin B9), is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce adverse effects from antifolate cancer treatments including methotr...
publications.aap.org
Language is now back in the Senate version of the OBBA that would undermine Medicare price negotiation for drugs with Orphan Drug Act designation. Here's our HA Forefront published yesterday (!) from Helen Mooney and @benro.me on why it is a very bad idea: www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/f...
Congress Should Remove The Rare Disease Carve-Out From Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, Not Expand It | Health Affairs Forefront
Expansion of the Medicare drug price negotiation rare disease drug carve-out would unnecessarily limit the number of drugs eligible for negotiation, allow for continued high drug prices for products that earn billions of dollars in Medicare, and introduce a new set of misaligned incentives.
healthaffairs.org
Great and engaging panel discussion about the future of the Inflation Reduction Act by @benro.me and Chris Cai (both from @portalresearch.org), @dusetzinas.bsky.social (Vanderbilt Health Policy), and Alyson Bancroft (@p4ad.bsky.social)! #ARM25
New Health Affairs Forefront post on the Medicare negotiation "biologic bonus" and the massive financial hit to patients and the health care system of delaying small molecule negotiation from 9 to 13 years, led by Chris Cai and @benro.me: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
healthaffairs.org
⭐Out now from Dr. Jerry Avorn— RETHINKING MEDICATIONS: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take In his new book, Dr. Avorn explains why some of the medications we take are poorly evaluated, overpriced, or pose unwarranted risks—and how we fix that. 📖 Grab a copy today: rethinkmeds.info
Home
Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take
rethinkmeds.info
WATCH: @akesselheim.bsky.social testifies before @waysmeanscmte.bsky.social On NIH cuts - "...the next generation will look back at this moment & ask what we were doing while the Trump administration systematically disposed of 1000s of research projects that could've helped patients."
What’s really going on: Elon watched office space last night.
two men are sitting at a table with the caption what would you say you do here ?
ALT: two men are sitting at a table with the caption what would you say you do here ?
media.tenor.com
Alt National Park Service@altnps.bsky.social · 2y agoElon Musk instructed federal workers to respond to an email summarizing their weekly accomplishments, a tactic he previously used to downsize staff at X. “Please reply to this email with approximately five bullet points of what you accomplished this week and CC your manager,” the message stated.
Was this before or after the CEO of PhrMA wined and dined with Trump?? 😉 But seriously, nice to see that negotiating drug prices is actually a bipartisan priority. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...
Trump's Justice Department defends Medicare drug price talks in case brought by Novartis
Some see the DOJ filing as a sign the Trump administration is willing to maintain the controversial program.
statnews.com
This is a terrible change. One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that it forced the health care system toward more adoption of telehealth. Good for patients, particularly those who need lots of care but who struggle to leave home.
More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 2y agoBREAKING: The Trump administration has announced that it will kill Medicare coverage of most telehealth services on April 1st.
We’ve summarized the (main, inaqdequate) ways to get prescription drugs for cheaper — with help from @benro.me. One of ‘em might work for you. And: you might know something we don’t. We’d love you to chime in. As always, paywall-free. firstaidkit.substack.com/p/how-to-may...
How to (maybe) get drugs for cheaper
What we’ve learned, and how you can help us learn more
firstaidkit.substack.com
New from Chris Cai, @akesselheim.bsky.social and @benro.me in JAMA: Despite having gone off patent decades ago, repurposing the antidepressant doxepin for insomnia has led to persistent high prices even though generics are available, highlighting the need for policy reform in drug repurposing.
JAMA@jama.com · 2y agoDespite the availability of generic low-dose doxepin for insomnia, the medication remains costly and less frequently used compared to other insomnia treatments. ja.ma/4aLCKid #MedSky
Despite the availability of generic low-dose doxepin for insomnia, the medication remains costly and less frequently used compared to other insomnia treatments. ja.ma/4aLCKid #MedSky
🩺📊 #medsky
New piece led by Anushka Bhaskar @portalresearch.org in STAT First Opinion on protecting public health agencies from damaging political interference -- even the threat of which can greatly affect people's behavior: www.statnews.com/2025/01/31/p...
New piece led by Anushka Bhaskar @portalresearch.org in STAT First Opinion on protecting public health agencies from damaging political interference -- even the threat of which can greatly affect people's behavior: www.statnews.com/2025/01/31/p...
How to protect HHS, FDA, NIH, and other health agencies from political interference
When politicians subordinate scientific institutions to electoral interests, they undermine immediate public health efforts and inflict lasting damage on institutional credibility.
statnews.com
Seems like the Trump administration plans to push ahead with negotiating drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act! 💊🩺📊 A glimmer of positive news among a sea of mayhem this week. www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...
Rescinding an executive order that directed CMMI to study models to lower drug costs isn’t the same as directing CMMI to stop implementing those models, is it?? #healthpolicy
📰 15 more drugs up for Medicare price negotiation this year. Including the blockbuster diabetes/obesity drug semaglutide!! 💊🩺📈🧪 www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...
HHS Announces 15 Additional Drugs Selected for Medicare Drug Price Negotiations in Continued Effort to Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors | CMS
Medicare has selected 15 more drugs to negotiate directly with participating drug companies. Building on the success of the first round of negotiations, the aim is to lower prices for some more of the...
cms.gov
Writing in @jama.com, @rgfrank.bsky.social and I have a new piece examining the IRA's Medicare Part D redesign. We argue that the redesign deserves greater scholarly attention and discuss four key themes of interest to policymakers. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Assessing the Effect of the Medicare Part D Redesign
This Viewpoint focuses on the Manufacturer Discount Program, identifying 4 key themes of interest to policymakers that may be affected by its Part D redesign.
jamanetwork.com
Anything Aaron writes is worth reading 👇👇
Aaron Schwartz@aschwartz.bsky.social · 2y agoIt was a pleasure to write this piece for Health Affairs on risk adjustment in Medicare. Risk adjustment modifies payments to health plans or ACOs based on patient/beneficiary characteristics. Here's a very brief summary of my thoughts🧵 www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Starting tomorrow, patients with Medicare Part D coverage have a $2000 annual cap. 💊🩺📊 Happy new year!🎉🥳
Nice @nytimes.com summary of some GOOD recommendations for reforming the #FDA… from experts including from @portalresearch.org director @akesselheim.bsky.social. 🩺📊🛟 www.nytimes.com/2024/12/22/w...
R.F.K. Jr. Wants to Overhaul the F.D.A. How Would Scientists Change It?
While some agree with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the agency needs reform, their ideas for fixing it are very different from his.
nytimes.com
Excellent summary of what to watch for with the #FDA in the upcoming administration. 🩺📊🛟
The wrong ways and right ways to reform the FDA in the new administration - new in Health Affairs Forefront from me and Josh Sharfstein: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
The wrong ways and right ways to reform the FDA in the new administration - new in Health Affairs Forefront from me and Josh Sharfstein: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
Will The New Administration’s FDA Be A Threat Or An Opportunity For The Public's Health? | Health Affairs Forefront
As various reform ideas are proposed, the organized medical and scientific community will need to work with the new leadership at the FDA to promote positive change–and oppose initiatives that undermi...
healthaffairs.org
🚨New @portalresearch.org paper🚨 in JAMA Health Forum. HIGHLIGHTS: 🔵 Biosimilars made up <2% of adalimumab use in 2023. 🔵 Net prices dropped by >40%...but the Humira list price increased. Meaning: Abbvie payed confidential rebates to maintain Humira dominance. 💊🩺📊 📜 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Complex new study in American Heart Journal from former @portalresearch.org fellow Catherine Hwang and PORTAL faculty @benro.me about primary adherence to ARNIs vs ACEI/ARBs. Bottom line: no difference but longer to fill for the more expensive ARNIs: tinyurl.com/395bjdvr
ClinicalKey
tinyurl.com
Just got a cold call from a group called "Voters for Cures" asking me to lobby Congress to pass PBM reform. No surprise who's funding that campaign. 🙄 We absolutely need PBM regulation. But I hope Congress makes sensible reforms that don't ultimately raise prices by manufacturers. #Healthpolicy
High prescription drug costs in the US hinder patient access to medication, but there are strategies that clinical teams can use to help patients manage these costs. https://ja.ma/4eQizjM
Earlier this year, Catherine Hwang, @akesselheim.bsky.social, and I argued that Medicare should cover anti-obesity medications...if they could negotiate fair prices. Is today's news a missed policy opportunity??? www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #Healthpolicy @portalresearch.org
Journal: thanks for submitting your paper. Unfortunately, you forgot to include the word count p. 1. Instead of updating this for you, we’d like you to please upload a new version and sit patiently waiting for it to convert to PDF yet again. Oh and we still might desk reject. Me: 😩 #AcademicSky
Interesting new data from MN. It’s clear that most 340B dollars go to hospitals, not safety net providers. But it’s also important to be clear that eliminating or restraining 340B would help drug manufacturers and hurt hospitals… but it probably would NOT bring down drug prices. #healthpolicy 💊📈💸
Brian Reid @brianreid.bsky.social · 2y agoBig day in the world of #340B. Minnesota just dropped a report detailing the extent of the 340B program in the state. It shows a lot of money sloshing around, and not necessarily in ways that maximize patient benefit. costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/special-ed...