User:Tryptofish/Drug prices RfC draft 2

Widespread inclusion of drug (medication) prices in drug articles is discouraged. Content about drug pricing should be included in articles only when reliable independent sources have written about issues that are specifically about the pricing of those drugs; simply taking drug prices from databases should be avoided. The content should be in paragraph text form, typically in a History or Economics section of the page.

Sample article text:

:From Epinephrine autoinjector#Price:

:Mylan's efforts to maintain its market dominance were aided when Sanofi's competing product was recalled in November 2015 and further when Teva's generic competitor was rejected by the FDA in March 2016.Carly Helfand for FiercePharma Mar 1, 2016 [http://www.fiercepharma.com/sales-and-marketing/fda-swats-down-teva-s-epipen-copy-putting-mylan-cruise-control FDA swats down Teva's EpiPen copy, putting Mylan in cruise control] By the first half of 2015, sales of EpiPen accounted for 40% of Mylan's profit.Cynthia Koons and Robert Langreth for Bloomberg Businessweek. September 23, 2015 [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-23/how-marketing-turned-the-epipen-into-a-billion-dollar-business How Marketing Turned the EpiPen Into a Billion-Dollar Business] Those profits were also due in part to Mylan's continually raising the price of EpiPens starting in 2009: in 2007, the wholesale price of two EpiPens was about $100; the price was about the same in 2009; by July 2013, the price was about $265; in May 2015, it was around $461; and in May 2016, the price rose again to around $609,Tara Parker-Pope and Rachel Rabkin Peachman for the New York Times. Aug 22, 2016 [http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/epipen-price-rise-sparks-concern-for-allergy-sufferers/?_r=1 EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers] around a 500% jump from the price in 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/08/18/cost-jumps-nearly-500-percent-for-life-saving-epipens/|title=Cost Jumps Nearly 500-Percent For Life-Saving EpiPens|last=Bartolotta|first=Devin|date=18 August 2016|website=|publisher=CBS Baltimore|access-date=19 August 2016}} The last price increase sparked widespread outrage in the late summer as parents prepared to send their children back to school and went to pharmacies to get new EpiPens.{{cite web|last1=Goldberg|first1=Kenny|title=People With Food Allergies Say Life-Saving Drug Too Expensive|url=http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/feb/18/food-allergies-life-saving-drug-too-expensive/|website=KPBS Public Media|accessdate=8 June 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Joseph|last2=Winslow|first2=Ron|last3=Steele|first3=Anne|title=Mylan to Launch Cheaper Generic EpiPen Alternative|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/mylan-to-launch-cheaper-generic-epipen-alternative-1472467730|work=Wall Street Journal|date=30 August 2016}} Some Americans responded to the high price by buying EpiPens online from pharmacies outside the US,{{cite news|last1=Tuttle|first1=Brad|title=5 Signs That EpiPen Prices Are Completely Out of Control|url=http://time.com/money/4461494/epipen-prices-mylan-out-of-control/|work=Time/Money|date=Aug 22, 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Lamble|first1=Kate|title=Drug company stung by criticism of 'outrageous' EpiPen price rises|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-37179158|work=BBC|date=25 August 2016}} forgoing new EpiPens and relying on their expired EpiPen, or forgoing an autoinjector altogether and having their children carry pre-loaded syringes.{{cite news|last1=Khazan|first1=Olga|title=Have You Ever Tried to Buy an EpiPen?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/epi-pens/497126/|work=The Atlantic|date=August 24, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.consumerreports.org/drugs/can-you-get-a-cheaper-epipen/|title=Can You Get A Cheaper EpiPen?|author=Ginger Skinner|date=August 11, 2016|publisher=Consumer Reports}}

:In response to criticism, Mylan increased financial assistance available for some patients to purchase EpiPens,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/25/epipen-price-hike-savings-card-mylan-heather-bresch-congress |title=Mylan to provide EpiPen cost assistance as CEO is asked to testify on price hike | Business | The Guardian |format= |accessdate=|newspaper=The Guardian |date=2016-08-25 |last1=Kasperkevic |first1=Jana }} a gesture that was called a "classic public relations move" by Harvard Medical School professor Aaron Kesselheim.{{cite news|last1=Carolyn Y. Johnson|title=Why Mylan’s ‘savings card’ won’t make EpiPen cheaper for all patients|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/08/25/under-pressure-mylan-will-expand-patient-assistance-for-epipen/|work=Washington Post|publisher=Washington Post|date=August 25, 2016}} The up to $300 saving cards can be used only by a small number of people who need the drug, and no one on Medicaid. They do nothing about the high price which is still being paid by insurers, who ultimately pass the cost on to consumers. In October 2016, Mylan announced a settlement with the US Department of Justice over rebates paid by Mylan to states under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Katie|title=Mylan to Settle EpiPen Overpricing Case for $465 Million|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/business/epipen-mylan-justice-department-settlement.html?ref=topics&_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=7 October 2016}} Questions had been raised by Congress and others about why EpiPen had been classified as a generic rather a proprietary product in the program since 1997; generic drugs have lower rebates (13%) than proprietary drugs (23%), and price hikes for generic drugs cannot be passed onto states, and a common form of pharmaceutical fraud involves misclassifying proprietary drugs as generic under the program.{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Katie|title=Is EpiPen a Brand-Name or a Generic Drug? Mylan Casts It Both Ways|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/business/is-epipen-a-brand-name-or-a-generic-drug-mylan-casts-it-both-ways.html|work=The New York Times|date=2 September 2016}} Under the agreement, Mylan agreed to pay a $465 million payment and to a sign a corporate integrity agreement requiring it to perform better in the future; the settlement also resolved cases brought by states related to the rebates.{{cite news|last1=Mole|first1=Beth|title=For ripping off Medicaid, EpiPen maker Mylan pays Feds $465 million|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/10/for-ripping-off-medicaid-epipen-maker-mylan-pays-feds-465-million/|accessdate=8 October 2016|publisher=Ars Technica|date=7 October 2016}}

{{reflist}}

Rationale:

1. Presenting the information this way is entirely encyclopedic.
2. The use of multiple independent sources assures that there is significant interest in the practice of pricing a given drug or class of drugs.
3. In contrast, simply listing prices goes against WP:NOTPRICE.
4. When listing prices in isolation, there are problems with systemic bias: US or UK price? First world or third world? In contrast, extended article text provides needed context.
5. Prices change over time, which can be better addressed in extended text.
6. A problem with the approach shown in Proposition 2 is that a brief summary often requires WP:SYNTH:
7. *Price per tablet (etc.) or price per defined daily dose? Some sources give one, and other sources give the other.
8. *Wholesale or retail? With or without health insurance? What if the drug comes in many different forms at different prices?
9. Although the issue of drug pricing is an important one, it is not Wikipedia's role to expose information, but rather, to document what independent sources say about it.

Drug (medication) prices should be widely included in drug articles, often as brief statements of price. It is reasonable to obtain price information from sources that are databases of drug price information. Appropriate sources include: [http://mshpriceguide.org/en/single-drug-information/?DMFId=338&searchYear=2014 International Drug Price Indicator Guide], [https://data.medicaid.gov/Drug-Pricing-and-Payment/NADAC-as-of-2019-11-27/qjsh-shte Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], and [https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/ Drugs.com].

Sample article text:

:From Ethosuximide (lead section):

:The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$27.77 per month as of 2014.{{cite web|title=Ethosuximide|url=http://mshpriceguide.org/en/single-drug-information/?DMFId=338&searchYear=2014|website=International Drug Price Indicator Guide|access-date=8 December 2016}} In the United States the wholesale cost of this amount is about US$95.97 per month.{{cite web |title=NADAC as of 2019-11-27 {{!}} Data.Medicaid.gov |url=https://data.medicaid.gov/Drug-Pricing-and-Payment/NADAC-as-of-2019-11-27/qjsh-shte |website=Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |accessdate=3 December 2019 |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

Rationale:

1. Although there is nothing wrong with the approach shown in Proposition 1, there is no need to restrict content to that.
2. The sources are reliable sources.
3. Readers want this information, even if some approximation is needed. It is important both to patients and to health practitioners.
4. Drug prices have been identified as an important issue in society: [https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/05/08/cms-drug-pricing-transparency-fact-sheet.html], [https://www.msfaccess.org/secret-medicine-prices-cost-lives].

Note: alternatively, this could be formatted as a single section, instead of supports and opposes.

1. Support 1. My reasons are: reason, reason. --Editor 1
2. etc.

1. Oppose 1. My reasons are: reason, reason. --Editor 2
2. etc.

1. Support 2. My reasons are: reason, reason. --Editor 3
2. etc.

1. Oppose 2. My reasons are: reason, reason. --Editor 4
2. etc.