Time for a Bailout for Big Pharma?
The Wall Street Journal (“of Medicine” as a colleague once coined it) has recently published a number of articles regarding mixed and declining profit reports by the big pharmaceutical manufacturers. Pfizer and Schering-Plough further reported weakness in the market for cholesterol drugs.
What is up with this? Is it possible that the recent turmoil in our financial market has trickled down to Main Street in such a way that maintenance drug spend is being affected? Does it mean that prescription drug copays are now at a level that is impacting plan member decisions regarding the value of their medications? Are plan members switching to generic drugs? Have they responded to health promotion programs and changed their diet and exercise routines - no longer needing cholesterol lowering drugs? Regarding declining Lipitor sales, Pfizer reported, “The drug’s sales have been under pressure from the availability of cheaper, generic options for cholesterol treatment.” (WSJ October 22, 2008)
This sounds like a good trend to me. Usually when economic times get tough, plan members load up on discretionary treatment before they lose coverage. Now that cost sharing levels in most PPO and CDH plans are significant, plan members may be foregoing care altogether. Is this good? Are we avoiding unnecessary plan costs? Or, are we simply deferring appropriate preventive treatments? Only time will tell.