TY - BOOK ID - 85297454 TI - Drugs, money, and secret handshakes : the unstoppable growth of prescription drug prices PY - 2019 SN - 1108759106 1108687679 1108482457 PB - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Pharmaceutical industry KW - Drugs KW - Pharmaceutical policy. KW - Drug policy KW - Drugs and state KW - Pharmacy KW - Pharmacy and state KW - State and drugs KW - State and pharmacy KW - Medical policy KW - Medicaments KW - Medications KW - Medicine (Drugs) KW - Medicines (Drugs) KW - Pharmaceuticals KW - Prescription drugs KW - Bioactive compounds KW - Medical supplies KW - Pharmacopoeias KW - Chemotherapy KW - Materia medica KW - Pharmacology KW - Drug industry KW - Drug trade KW - Medicine industry KW - Medicines industry KW - Prescription medicine industry KW - Chemical industry KW - Economic aspects. KW - Cost effectiveness. KW - Government policy UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:85297454 AB - In the warped world of prescription drug pricing, generic drugs can cost more than branded ones, old drugs can be relaunched at astronomical prices, and low-cost options are shut out of the market. In Drugs, Money and Secret Handshakes, Robin Feldman shines a light into the dark corners of the pharmaceutical industry to expose a web of shadowy deals in which higher-priced drugs receive favorable treatment and patients are channeled toward the most expensive medicines. At the center of this web are the highly secretive middle players who establish coverage levels for patients and negotiate with drug companies. By offering lucrative payments to these middle players (as well as to doctors and hospitals), drug companies ensure that inexpensive drugs never gain traction. This system of perverse incentives has delivered the kind of exorbitant drug prices - and profits - that everyone loves except for those who pay the bills. ER -