Lilly markets an osteoporosis drug, Forteo, in Australia that costs $850 a month.
Not many people can afford it, which is why Lilly is understandably anxious that Australia's government health program list it as one of the drugs whose price tag it subsidizes for the public benefit.
But on four separate occasions, Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Commission has declined to do so, citing a cost-benefit analysis that finds that the drug, Forteo, simply isn't good enough to justify its expense.
You might think the story would end there. A government should be able to decide what drugs its health plans cover, right?
Actually, no.
Under the conditions set forth in a free trade agreement between the United States and Australia that went into effect in 2005, pharmaceutical companies can appeal PBAC decisions to an "independent review commission."
On May 3, Lilly announced that it was going to do just that.
Read more here at Salon by Andrew Leonard about Big Pharma's use of muscle.
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