The New Payer Dogma: US FDA Approved Drugs Have 'Less Evidence'

12 Sep 2019

• By Michael McCaughan

It is now a common assertion among insurers that one of the many challenges they face in covering high-priced specialty therapies is that drugs are approved with “less evidence” than used to be the case. That is more myth than reality – but a very dangerous myth if it isn’t corrected by the US FDA and the drug industry.

It is now accepted as an established truth among payers that new drugs approved by US Food & Drug Administration in recent years have less efficacy evidence than used to be expected.

During one recent industry conference hosted by a leading specialty pharmacy company, that assertion was made repeatedly as one of...