Newswise — The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School will host an all-day symposium March 19, 2018, on preserving consumer access in the complex pharmaceuticals marketplace.
The event, to be held at Carey’s Harbor East campus, is directed by Stacey B. Lee, a Carey associate professor with expertise in health law and a member of the core faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The keynote address will be presented by Dan Liljenquist, Vice President of Enterprise and Initiative at Intermountain Healthcare. Liljenquist is a leader in pension reform and healthcare consulting, and he is a former Utah state senator.
In January 2018, Intermountain announced the launch of a nonprofit generic drug company that has the potential for significant market disruption. The Utah-based healthcare organization leads the project, joined by Ascension, SSM Health, and Trinity Health, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The new company intends to be an FDA approved drug manufacturer.
“This is the ideal time to host a forum on this issue,” says Lee. “The state of Maryland recently passed groundbreaking legislation protecting consumers. The Carey Business School is excited to convene national leaders in Baltimore for this important dialogue. We will certainly have a day full of ideas and innovation.”
Adds Lee: “The skyrocketing price of drugs is a top concern in public health, in policy, and in business research. There are gaps between companies’ goals and patient needs. This event convenes leaders from across the landscape. We will open dialogue, build trust, and scan the horizon for solutions. In the end, we all want consumers to be able to afford the life-saving drugs they need.”
The day’s panel discussions will gather experts from across the nation, including researchers, policy leaders, practitioners, and industry executives. Scheduled Jay Bhattacharya of the Stanford University School of Medicine, Jennifer Miller and Alison Bateman-House of the New York University School of Medicine, Joanna Shepherd of the Emory University School of Law, Sharon Glave Frazee of the Pharmacy Benefits Management Institute, Christopher Robertson of the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law, and David Yakimischak (Carey MBA, ’16) of ConnectiveRx.
Academicians from across Johns Hopkins University will also take part. Among them will be Gerard Anderson and William Padula of the Bloomberg School, who both played a role in the Maryland legislation restricting price increases on generic pharmaceuticals. Faculty participants from the Carey Business School will include researchers Ge Bai and Ozge Sahin. Jeremy Greene of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Caleb Alexander of JHU’s Bloomberg School and medical school will also join as expert panelists.
“Our discussions at the symposium will be rooted in concepts of the social contract,” says Lee. “There are ethical, legal, and business considerations that must be balanced. Solutions will remove barriers to care for patients whose survival may depend on access to these pharmaceuticals.”
Lee was recently added to the roster for the prestigious Fulbright Specialist Program, an initiative of the United States Department of State. Her most recent research examines access to trial drugs in terminal cases, proposing new guidelines to increase patients’ access. A member of the Carey Business School’s full-time faculty since 2008, Lee received her law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1995. Before joining Carey, she worked as a trial lawyer and corporate in-house counsel.
More information about the symposium or to register, visit http://carey.jhu.edu/drug-accessibility-and-pricing-symposium.
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