New Paper Captures True Stories of Patient Abuse at Hands of Pharmacy Benefit Managers
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Community Oncology Alliance Releases Sixth in Series of Patient-PBM Horror Stories Reported by Cancer Practices
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES, March 9, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Continuing its efforts to expose the inhumane pain, suffering, and anxiety inflicted by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) on patients with cancer, today, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) released a sixth in its series of papers documenting real-life patient-PBM horror stories.
Telling the real stories of patients with cancer and oncology professionals treating them, the paper “Abusive Middlemen & Bureaucracies” features stories provided to COA by independent, community oncology practices and pharmacies across the country. The serious, sometimes dangerous, stories include PBM bureaucracies causing severe lapses in a leukemia patient’s care, filling prescriptions with the wrong dosage, and standing in the way of timely treatment while a patient’s window of opportunity to treat a deadly breast cancer closed.
• Click here to read the sixth COA PBM Horror Stories paper.
Today, a small handful of multi-billion-dollar PBM corporations wield nearly limitless power and influence over what, where, when, and at what cost 260+ million Americans can access their needed medications. The result is that patients with cancer can suffer serious, sometimes dangerous, and even deadly outcomes because of medication delays and denials. And since PBM profits are often derived from shady, percentage-based rebates and fees, they often drive drug prices higher, not lower. The result has left patients and plan sponsors, especially employers sponsoring health plans, paying more and more for prescription medications.
“Not a day goes by that practices don’t report the types of outrageous patient abuses contained in COA’s horror stories series. Just weeks ago, COA Vice President Dr. Debra Patt testified at a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing relating the pain inflicted by PBMs, showcasing one of her patients, who subsequently and tragically died ,” said Ted Okon, executive director of COA. “Hopefully, these stories push President Biden, Congress, and federal agencies to come together and act soon to rein in PBM abuses. Patients with cancer and their oncologists cannot wait any longer.”
Luckily, it appears that there is bipartisan energy in the 118th Congress to finally focus on addressing abusive and monopolistic PBM practices that harm all Americans. This includes the recently introduced bipartisan Senate Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act (S. 127) and Prescription Pricing for the People Act (S. 113), and Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act (H.R. 830), all of which COA strongly supports.
This is the sixth paper in a series produced by COA that exposes the abuses of PBMs, many of which are featured on www.PBMAbuses.com which seeks to support patient education and advocacy on PBM issues. Visitors to the site can access the patient horror stories series, educational videos, advocacy resources, and more.
Read COA’s full series of PBM Horror Stories at https://communityoncology.org/category/research-and-publications/pbm-horror-stories/.
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About the Community Oncology Alliance: The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for community oncology practices and, most importantly, the patients they serve. For more than 20 years, COA has been the only organization dedicated solely to community oncology where the majority of Americans with cancer are treated. The mission of COA is to ensure that patients with cancer receive quality, affordable, and accessible cancer care in their own communities. More than 5,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every day and, deaths from the disease have been steadily declining due to earlier detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Learn more at www.CommunityOncology.org. Follow COA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/oncologyCOA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CommunityOncologyAlliance.
Drew Lovejoy
Community Oncology Alliance
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