FDA Drug Development Meetings May Be Better Model For Future CMS Patient-Listening Sessions

The inaugural set of 10 CMS-hosted patient-listening sessions for the drugs selected for Medicare price negotiation fell short of delivering anything like a diverse and comprehensive view of patient experiences with the selected drugs and their therapeutic alternatives. 

The decision by CMS to style the sessions like an FDA advisory committee open public hearing, where patients present in succession under strict time limits without any follow-up questions, may have been a misstep if the goal was to get useful, real-world patient insight to help inform price negotiations