U.S. says patient charity helped drugmakers, revokes approval


One of the largest U.S. patient assistance charities may close after the federal government revoked its authorization, citing findings that the group, mainly funded by pharmaceutical companies, enabled drugmakers to influence prescriptions. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General notified Caring Voice Coalition in a letter on Tuesday that it would rescind the charity's 2006 authorization after finding that it may have given drugmakers more ability to raise prices while insulating patients from the immediate effects of increases, leaving federal health care programs like Medicare to bear the cost.



from Biotech News