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Articles by : Tom Mirga, Editor at Large

Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene Myeloma Drugs: Patient-Safety or Profit Motive? Part 6

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Our six-part investigative series takes an in-depth look into a question often asked by 340B providers: Why can’t they access 340B pricing on one of Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene’s most profitable drug products? We also delve into serious fraud allegations, Congressional oversight, and the possibility of a renewed focus on this contentious area under new leadership at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Throughout the series, we also provide BMS/Celgene's viewpoint, their justification for their drug pricing practices, limited distribution policies and why they believe they are following the law.

Part 6 of 6—What Happens Next For Revlimid, Pomalyst, Thalomid, and 340B?

As we described in Parts 2 and 3 of this series, in 2018, an ex-Celgene vice president responsible for the company’s 340B program compliance alleged in a whistleblower

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Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene Myeloma Drugs: Patient-Safety or Profit Motive? Part 5

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Our six-part investigative series takes an in-depth look into a question often asked by 340B providers: Why can’t they access 340B pricing on one of Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene’s most profitable drug products? We also delve into serious fraud allegations, Congressional oversight, and the possibility of a renewed focus on this contentious area under new leadership at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Throughout the series, we also provide BMS/Celgene's viewpoint, their justification for their drug pricing practices, limited distribution policies and why they believe they are following the law.

Part 5 of 6—Revlimid “didn’t get any better…. You just got better at making money”

Last September, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee released a 45-page report focused on Celgene and Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS’s) nearly two

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Sentry Data Systems Is the Latest 340B TPA to Change Hands

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
“Sentry looks forward to continuing to innovate and grow with its new partnership with Craneware," Sentry CEO Travis Leonardi said about his company's sale this week.

Healthcare data analytics company Craneware is buying 340B third-party administrator Sentry Data Systems, the latest in a series of 340B TPA acquisitions.

Abry Partners, the private equity firm that bought an approximately 89% stake in Sentry in May

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In First of Its Kind Legislation, Louisiana Cracks Down on White-Bagging Requirements

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Louisiana has just enacted a law stopping insurers or their pharmacy benefit managers from requiring or pressuring in-network providers to accept "white bagging" of physician-administered drugs. | Shutterstock

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) has signed legislation stopping insurers or their pharmacy benefit managers from requiring or pressuring in-network providers to obtain physician-administered drugs exclusively from pharmacies in the insurer’s network.

SB 191, which took effect June

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More Than a Third of State Lawmakers Accept Pharma Campaign Contributions, Analysis Shows

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
More than one-third of all state lawmakers nationwide accepted at least one pharmaceutical industry campaign contribution during the past two years, an analysis of campaign finance records by news organization STAT found.

In the last two years, over one-third of all state lawmakers nationwide accepted at least one pharmaceutical industry campaign contribution, news organization STAT reports.

The industry wrote over 10,000 individual checks totaling more than $9 million to “at least 2,467

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Becerra’s Message to Pharma on 340B: “You Violate the Law, You Pay the Consequences”

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told a Senate committee this morning his department has sent drug companies "a clear message" that if they violate the 340B statute, they will "pay the consequences."

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra told a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee this morning that his department has sent “a clear message” to six drug manufacturers denying 340B discounts on drugs shipped to contract pharmacies “that we

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Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene Myeloma Drugs: Patient-Safety or Profit Motive? Part 4

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Our six-part investigative series takes an in-depth look into a question often asked by 340B providers: Why can’t they access 340B pricing on one of Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene’s most profitable drug products? We also delve into serious fraud allegations, Congressional oversight, and the possibility of a renewed focus on this contentious area under new leadership at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Throughout the series, we also provide BMS/Celgene's viewpoint, their justification for their drug pricing practices, limited distribution policies and why they believe they are following the law.

Part 4 of 6—How Do Celgene’s Revlimid Policies Affect 340B Hospitals and Patient Care?

The impact on health care providers of being unable to access Revlimid at the 340B price is significant, financially and in terms of patient care, according

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Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene Myeloma Drugs: Patient-Safety or Profit Motive? Part 3

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Our six-part investigative series takes an in-depth look into a question often asked by 340B providers: Why can’t they access 340B pricing on one of Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene’s most profitable drug products? We also delve into serious fraud allegations, Congressional oversight, and the possibility of a renewed focus on this contentious area under new leadership at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Throughout the series, we also provide BMS/Celgene's viewpoint, their justification for their drug pricing practices, limited distribution policies and why they believe they are following the law.

Part 3 of 6—The Path From Thalidomide, to Revlimid, to a 340B Whistleblower Lawsuit

The myeloma drugs Revlimid and Pomalyst are analogues of Thalomid, aka thalidomide—a drug that still haunts those who remember the late 1950s and early 1960s. Marketed

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Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene Myeloma Drugs: Patient-Safety or Profit Motive? Part 2

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Our six-part investigative series takes an in-depth look into a question often asked by 340B providers: Why can’t they access 340B pricing on one of Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene’s most profitable drug products? We also delve into serious fraud allegations, Congressional oversight, and the possibility of a renewed focus on this contentious area under new leadership at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Throughout the series, we also provide BMS/Celgene's viewpoint, their justification for their drug pricing practices, limited distribution policies and why they believe they are following the law.

Part 2 of 6—A Pharmaceutical Industry Insider’s Claims of Massive Fraud Against 340B Providers

Editor’s note: We invited Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), which bought Celgene in November 2019, to respond to allegations of illegal or

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Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene Myeloma Drugs: Patient-Safety or Profit Motive? Part 1

Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views
Our six-part investigative series takes an in-depth look into a question often asked by 340B providers: Why can’t they access 340B pricing on one of Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene’s most profitable drug products? We also delve into serious fraud allegations, Congressional oversight, and the possibility of a renewed focus on this contentious area under new leadership at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Throughout the series, we also provide BMS/Celgene's viewpoint, their justification for their drug pricing practices, limited distribution policies and why they believe they are following the law.

Part 1 of 6—Why Can So Few 340B Hospitals Buy and Dispense the Highly Profitable Cancer Drug Revlimid?

Possibly more than a thousand hospitals in the 340B drug discount program can’t buy or dispense Revlimid, a widely-used oral drug

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