Fmr. FDA Associate Commissioner, Now President of CMPI Explains
Style Magazine Newswire | 6/13/2022, 1:05 p.m.
Professor Peter Pitts
Prescription drug middlemen, known as pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs have been criticized for charging high fees and steering consumers toward mail order pharmacies.
The Federal Trade Commission took aim at PBMs last week, announcing an inquiry into the opaque system of rebates, claw backs and other financial wizardry that determines how much patients end up paying at the pharmacy counter.
"It's about time the FTC had a look at PBMs," said Peter Pitts. "The health care chutzpah of pharmacy benefit managers is astounding! The FTC knows it."
Pitts says the last year before the pandemic PBMs made about $40 billion in profits, and $15 of every $100 that consumers spend on prescription drugs go to PMBs.
If spending on pharmaceuticals is up about 38%, premiums and co-pays are up a whopping 102%, Pitts said.
Where is that money going?
"It's not going into the pocket of consumers, it is going into the coffers of PBMs," Pitts said. "That's what the FTC wants to look at."
Pitts says PBMs are a powerful lobby. They are not so much middle men, but gangsters, because they say to pharmaceutical companies if you don't give us discounts of 40%, 50% sometimes 60% or more, we are not going to tier your product on our formulary, so no one is going to use it.
That's called a kick back.
