Drugs, Money, and Secret Handshakes: The Unstoppable Growth of Prescription Drug Prices Illustrated Edition

by Robin Feldman (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-1108482455

ISBN-10: 1108482457

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In the warped world of prescription drug pricing, generic drugs can cost more than branded ones, old drugs can be relaunched at astronomical prices, and low-cost options are shut out of the market. In Drugs, Money and Secret Handshakes, Robin Feldman shines a light into the dark corners of the pharmaceutical industry to expose a web of shadowy deals in which higher-priced drugs receive favorable treatment and patients are channeled toward the most expensive medicines. At the center of this web are the highly secretive middle players who establish coverage levels for patients and negotiate with drug companies. By offering lucrative payments to these middle players (as well as to doctors and hospitals), drug companies ensure that inexpensive drugs never gain traction. This system of perverse incentives has delivered the kind of exorbitant drug prices - and profits - that everyone loves except for those who pay the bills.

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From the Publisher

Profits everyone love - except those who pay the bills

In the warped world of prescription drug pricing, generic drugs can cost more than branded ones, old drugs can be relaunched at astronomical prices, and low-cost options are shut out of the market. This system of perverse incentives has delivered the kind of exorbitant drug prices - and profits - that everyone loves except for those who pay the bills.

"Quite simply, if you are an American reading this and you only read a single book between now and the November 2020 elections, it needs to be this one." Jeff Sexton, bookanon.com

“Drugs, Money, and Secret Handshakes” is one hundred power-packed pages of rich data and sober analysis." Louis Garguilo, Chief Editor, outsourcedpharma.com

"In this lucid and supremely upsetting book, Robin Feldman lays bare the multilayered, perverse incentives that reward pharmaceutical companies for hiking their branded drug prices into the stratosphere. Both houses of Congress should be locked in a room until they've read this book and enacted the remedies she proposes. Prosecutors should read it carefully, too." Roger Parloff, Legal Journalist

Review

'This is the book the pharmaceutical industry does not want you to read. Feldman is like a detective, teasing out drug-industry secrets and helping the reader navigate the Alice-in-Wonderland world of drug prices.' David Kessler, Former Commissioner, United States Food and Drug Administration

'In this lucid and supremely upsetting book, Robin Feldman lays bare the multilayered, perverse incentives that reward pharmaceutical companies for hiking their branded drug prices into the stratosphere. Both houses of Congress should be locked in a room until they've read this book and enacted the remedies she proposes. Prosecutors should read it carefully, too.' Roger Parloff, Legal Journalist

''Everyone has a limit. Every budget has an endpoint' cannot apply to an industry that is consistently anti-competitive and monopolistic. Feldman offers potential solutions and exposes the limits inherent in each. Consumers who find this salient will be motivated to investigate further and alleviate their information gaps.' S. M. Mohammed, Choice

Book Description

Examines the pharmaceutical industry to expose how higher-priced drugs receive favorable treatment and patients are channeled toward the most expensive medicines.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press; Illustrated edition (April 11, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 196 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1108482457
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1108482455
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.25 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #943,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #151 in Health Law (Books)
- #4,225 in Law (Books)
- #8,180 in Industries (Books)

Customer Reviews:
13 ratings

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One of the large struggles we face

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

Professor Feldman has taken a very deep dive into one of the vexing issues of our society- how do we encourage development of new drugs and at the same time end the high prices after the “reward” of s patent term expires.

3 people found this helpful

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Steve Gerben

Meticulous

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

Meticulous and concise. If you're looking for a book to get you up to speed on the healthcare debate you've found it.

2 people found this helpful

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Pentheselaeia

Very informative

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

If you want to know what games are being played to make drugs expensive, this book will tell you. The system is set up to be expensive. There are no competitive markets in drugs.

Helpful

elie monarch

it will make you mad when you understand what they are perpetrating on us.

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

great book, makes it clear what is going on behind the scenes that MAKES US PAY SO MUCH MORE.

One person found this helpful

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Lindsey Gandhi

A Must Read!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2019

If you or anyone in your family depends on prescription drugs, you need to read this book. If I had unlimited financial resources, I would send a copy of this book along with my notes, thoughts and suggested resolutions to every member in Congress and every member in my state government. This book needs to be read and I commend the author for having the courage to write it and attempt to answer the question so many of us ask each time we visit the pharmacy - Why in the world is my medicine so expensive? Even with insurance????

Big Pharma, while they have life saving drugs is also a Big Bully to us patients. We all know the healthcare system is messed up, it's a jumbled ball of yarn that the government keeps making worse instead of better. And the pharmaceutical industry is just as messed up and corrupt. I never knew quite how corrupt until reading this book. The author does an exquisite job of laying out how the industry is structured and analyzing all the ways the drug prices get raised. It is alarming, it is scary, it is horrifying how the current system is structured to rob the patient blind while padding the pockets of drug companies. PBM's (pharmacy benefit managers) and insurance companies. Within reading the first 15% of this book, I had 7 solutions to help lower drug costs. And that's just me, one lone reader. Now imagine if the powers that be, that we elected to be our voice and our feet to move justice would take the time to really read this, research it and discuss solutions what could happen!

I have two diseases that require extensive medicines to keep me somewhat healthy - Multiple Sclerosis and Congestive Heart Failure. I have no problem paying a premium for a product or service that is of extensive value to me. And I understand the need for companies to make a profit. I have no problem with that. One of the medicines I take for MS keeps me walking and out of a wheelchair (I consider that to be extensive value). What I do have a problem with, a big point in this book, is why is that medicine now $58,000 a year when 20 years ago it was $30,000 a year? And there is a generic on the market now that is $36,000 a year. You want me to believe in 20 years the pharmaceutical company hasn't found a more cost efficient way to manufacture this medicine? And with seven other competitive MS medicines out there, this is not an issue of cost and demand. As the title says, there is alot of money and secret handshakes that go into this dishonesty. The book points out on average a brand name drug has a 76% profit margin.

A huge part of the deception is this middle group of players who are the ones determining coverage levels for patients and the formularies for insurance companies. Someone in a suit is sitting in an office making a decision on what medicine I should be allowed access to based on how much money they are getting paid, not on what is in the best interest of my disease and health, as determined by my doctor.

There are moral, ethical and legal concerns raised in this book that as a country we need to address. The author does a spot on job of backing up everything with solid facts, figures, examples and legal cases. In the end the author offers a few solutions that could be pursued to start the conversation and get the ball rolling. If you take the time to read this book, I feel confident you will find additional ideas and potential solutions as I did (by books end I had 16. Not saying all would work or are even feasible, but it's a start). The point being that if we can get the right minds to the table, there are solutions out there where patients could get affordable medicine that won't break the bank while still allowing the pharmaceutical companies to make a decent profit.

My thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3 people found this helpful

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Ell9677

he book is both interesting AND educational.

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2019

Drugs, Money and Secret Handshakes delves into the world of pharmaceutical price gouging and all the many hidden players behind it. As expected, collusion, secret agreements and greedy middlemen conspire to conflate medication prices. The reader is left surprised by just how many middlemen have a stake in keeping medications pricey.

Robin Feldman also shines a light onto the seedy little tricks pharmaceutical companies employ to keep prices high on drugs that have been around for a very long time. Using recycling and recombination strategies to obtain new patents to keep prices high on pharmaceuticals that would have otherwise become more affordable is just one of the sneaky techniques they employ.

Drugs, Money and Secret Handshakes is an apt title. The book is both interesting and educational.

One person found this helpful

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G. Low

Biased presentation limits utility.

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2019

This book might make you mad, but it's not a good education on the US pharmaceutical industry.

While there's some good information, the author is selective about which examples they use. Counter examples are rarely presented and often mischaracterized.

It is definitely not for policymakers or scholars as suggested by the Amazon book description. It's may serve as a perspective-based introduction to the subject for general interest readers.

I don't know if the author is unaware of the industry's history and cases that don't fit her narrative, or if she deliberately excluded them to make for a better story, but the reason doesn't mater. The effect of these omissions is to leave readers misinformed.

2 people found this helpful

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BF Palo Alto

Helps the reader understand why drug prices are so darn high!

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2019

Professor Feldman has figured out how the Pharma-Industrial Complex manipulates intellectual property rules to keep drug prices artificially high and to keep the generics from offering cheaper alternatives. Disclosure: she is my wife.

2 people found this helpful

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Drugs, Money, and Secret Handshakes: The Unstoppable Growth of Prescription Drug Prices Illustrated Edition

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Profits everyone love - except those who pay the bills