ASBM Chairman Urges State and Federal Lawmakers to Help Ensure Patient Access, Treatment Choice

In early April ASBM Chairman Ralph McKibbin joined with the Pennsylvania Nonmedical Switching Coalition to meet with members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Insurance committee to answer questions and advocate regarding the impact of nonmedical switching on patients in the state. PA State Senate bill 348 amends the Unfair Insurance Practices Act to prevent nonmedical switching and a House companion bill is pending. Dr. McKibbin also participated as part of the American College of Gastroenterology Board of Governors in their legislative action session April 17-19 in Washington, DC. Meetings were held with both U.S. Senate and House members to advocate for patient access to care. During the educational session, Dr. McKibbin presented on the importance of the leadership provided by stakeholder organizations.

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April 2024 Newsletter

ASBM’s Michael Reilly: Preserve the US Interchangeable Standard that Has Helped Drive Physician and Patient Confidence in Biosimilars In an April interview with EndpointsNews, an FDA official called on Congress to eliminate the distinction between biosimilars (which can be prescribed in place of their reference products by a physician) and “interchangeable” biosimilars, which can be substituted by pharmacists the […]

March 2024 Newsletter

Biden Administration HHS Budget Would Permit Third-Party Substitution of All Biosimilars On March 11th, the Biden Administration released its FY25 HHS Budget. In response, ASBM Executive Director Michael Reilly published a blog post sharing his concerns with the Administration’s proposal to permit widespread automatic (pharmacy-level) substitution of all biosimilars in place of their reference products; without physician approval […]

ASBM’s Michael Reilly: Preserve the US Interchangeable Standard that Has Helped Drive Physician and Patient Confidence in Biosimilars

In an April interview with EndpointsNews, an FDA official called on Congress to eliminate the distinction between biosimilars (which can be prescribed in place of their reference products by a physician) and “interchangeable” biosimilars, which can be substituted by pharmacists the way generics are. Doing so would undermine physician confidence in biosimilars and jeopardize treatment stability for many […]