Cross-posted at Kmareka: http://kmareka.com/...
Even the noblest of canines may growl or bite if one happens to interfere with their feeding. Corporations are not much different. However noble their products or services, they remain motivated by profit and innately—and sometimes fiercely—object to anything that interferes with such. To ignore their inherent hunger for profit would be unwise. A respectful wariness is prudent. When it comes to dealing with the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, some states are just now beginning to figure that out, as reported today by the New York Times:
In Some States, Maker Oversees Use of Its Drug
Many states, looking to rein in the cost of expensive antipsychotic drugs like Zyprexa, have turned to an unusual ally for help — the very company that sells the drug.
At more than $300 for a monthly prescription, Zyprexa, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, is the single biggest drug cost for state Medicaid budgets.
So Eli Lilly, the maker of Zyprexa, offers to help states monitor doctors who treat Medicaid patients to make sure they are not wasting money on mental illness drugs because of what psychiatrists call "sloppy prescribing" — giving patients too many similar medications or doses that are too high. Twenty states use Lilly’s free service.
But some experts question why these states let Lilly help oversee spending on its own medication.
"I’m skeptical of a drug company program that says, ‘We’ll hold down use of our drug,’ " said Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, a professor of health care economics at the University of Minnesota. He described such programs as thinly disguised marketing.
Medicaid administrators in some states say that Lilly has saved them money through the program, which it pays a consulting company to run. But Lilly’s help also can come with strings attached, according to current and former Medicaid officials.
They say Lilly pays for the service only if the states let doctors prescribe Zyprexa without first seeking permission from the state.
Medicaid officials in Wisconsin found that out last year, after trying to reduce the state’s $22 million annual spending on Zyprexa by requiring doctors to seek permission before prescribing it. Lilly responded by ending the program.
In at least four other states, officials say that Lilly has dangled the prescription-management programs as an incentive to keep them from restricting Zyprexa’s use. [full text]
PS from Kiersten: Also of note on this post is a comment from Ben Hansen, which he posted on our site:
I’m the Michigan mental health advocate who called the program "incestuous" in the NY Times story.
As a member of the Mich. Dept. of Community Health Recipient Rights Advisory Committee, for over a year I’ve been researching the Lilly pharmacy program in Michigan and 25 other states. Through a series of FOIA requests, I’ve uncovered a lot of solid evidence that wasn’t even mentioned in the Times.
I’d love to hear from officials in Michigan and other states with similar programs funded by Eli Lilly and implemented by Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc.
Feel free to contact me directly or send me an anonymous tip if you wish. This is a big story, and it’s not going away.
Ben Hansen
Traverse City, Michigan
email: drbonkers@gmail.com
web site: www.bonkersinstitute.org
Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research