Key points from today’s guests:
Morning News Roundup
Rick Couldry, PharmD, VP, pharmacy & health professions, The University of Kansas Health System
- For the first time, Medicare, which purchases drugs, will be allowed to negotiate what it pays for drugs.
- Up until now, Medicare was required to pay whatever price the drug maker sets. This has led the drug prices in America at least in part, being much higher than they are in other countries in many ways.
- The prices aren't set to go into effect until January of 2026, so there will be a lot of discussion, conflict, disagreement, and legal battles to happen before we can really understand the implications.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System
- If you look at how new drugs are brought to market, there's two classes of drugs.
- There's truly novel therapies for establishing a new the whole new area of therapy, or a look-alike drug look which is really not novel therapy.
- When you step back and you look at this, many important new breakthroughs in drug therapy, like the new Car T therapies for cancer, those are coming out of out of academic medical centers.
- So there's going to be a battle now between CMS and Big Pharma related to drug prices.
Focus Topic
Denise Johnson, wet macular degeneration patient
- Denise has macular degeneration in both eyes, but in her right eye, she has wet macular degeneration.
- Wet macular degeneration is the most severe form of the disease.
- Injections into the eye can save her vision.
- She said the injection treatments have been a lifesaver. Vision is so important to all of us and the thought of losing it is terrifying.
Dr. Radwan Ajlan, comprehensive ophthalmologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- We know that macular degeneration is the most common cause for decreased vision in people over 50 in the U.S. based on the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
- There are two forms of macular degeneration. Dry macular degeneration is the most common type with 80 percent of patients.
- When it progresses even further, the disease can develop and change to be wet macular degeneration. When it becomes wet, new blood vessels grow with in the macula and they can start bleeding or leaking other fluids that damage the photoreceptors and cause decreased vision.
- Annual checkups with doctors are important because they can catch this early and help stop it from progressing.
Friday, September 1 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. We kick off Healthy Aging Month with a man named Merle. At 76, he golfs, walks and kickboxes on a regular basis. You also hear from our experts on ways to optimize health at this age and specific things you need to do and ask your doctor every year.
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