A new patient advocacy group has formed amid national scrutiny over high drug prices, USA Today reports.
Here are four things to know.
1. The formation of Patients for Affordable Drugs comes as U.S. congressional members call out Kaléo for price hikes on its naloxone delivery device Evzio. The device cost $690 in 2014 but now costs more than $4,000, according to the report.
2. For PFAD founder David Mitchell, the fight against high drug prices is personal. Mr. Mitchell used the chemotherapy-like drug Revlimid for years. Revlimid has a median annual out-of-pocket cost of $11,500 for Medicare patients, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Mr. Mitchell's insurance through his former employer covered everything except $3,000 of the annual cost, but he pointed out that Medicare patients, on average, have a median annual income of $24,150, according to the report.
"Patient groups do a lot of good, important things, like patient education and patient support, but they’re not serving patients' interests by ignoring drug prices," he told USA Today.
3. The Laura and John Arnold Foundation contributed a grant of $500,000 to help launch PFAD, according to the report. Mr. Mitchell and his wife, Nicole, a PFAD co-founder, also contributed $75,000.
4. Overall, the patient advocacy group aims to help rein in soaring drug prices. PFAD is seeking patients' stories about their struggles with high drug costs and collecting email addresses in hopes of building a "community of patients to stand up for change," USA Today reports.
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