Patients will walk away

Almost half, in fact, if the out-of-pocket cost of a med is too high. And almost three-quarters would switch pharmacies because of cost. (Obviously this doesn’t apply to consumers whose insurance has a set co-pay.)

The takeaway: Don’t be a commodity. Educate patients on cost-saving options (coupons, paying out of pocket, etc.), and on the other services you can provide.

Irbesartan recall

Be aware: Some lots of irbesartan made by ScieGen — labeled as Westminster Pharmaceuticals or as GSMS Incorporate — have been recalled.

Open enrollment begins today

Remind your patients: If they get their health insurance through the federal ACA exchange, open enrollment begins today, November 1. And remember that the enrollment period has been shortened to only six weeks. Enrollment ends December 15.

“We price to the marketplace”

Remember when Donald Trump said drug makers were going to be voluntarily lowering their prices? Not many did, but many — including Pfizer — held off on price hikes. Now Pfizer has announced that it will return to “business as normal.” Per the CEO:

“[W]hat I’m trying to indicate is that we did voluntarily agree to defer price increases until the (Trump administration) blueprint (on pricing) was implemented over the end of this year. We’ve been working with the president on parts of the blueprint. And I expect our approach by the end of year will be, what I would characterize as business as normal. We price to the marketplace.”

Small hospitals woo drug trials

Some smaller hospitals are joining together to offer their facilities to drug makers for clinical trials. Why? How about $10,000 per patient (or more)?

I, for one, welcome our new microbiota overlords

Gut bacteria, is there anything you don’t do? (tl;dr: Gut bacteria can control the neurons responsible for movement.)

Elsewhere: Mother Necessity™ edition

What happens when you only allow medical exemptions for children’s vaccines? As California is learning, it means physicians pop up offering to write them for your kids without even an examination.

In fact, California has seen a 250 percent increase in medical exemptions for required vaccinations since it outlawed “philosophical” exemptions.

Health officials are onto the game, though. It’s kind of obvious when the exemptions come from cardiologists, dermatologists, surgeons, and in at least one case a marijuana dispenser.

In one case, a study participant said a doctor charged patients to watch a video in exchange for signing an exemption. Another told of a physician who charged for medical tests before vouching for an exemption. In some cases, doctors openly advertised their willingness to sign exemptions for a fee.