At a time when many Americans are clamoring for more transparency into prescription drug pricing, one key provider of that data is making it harder to access the information.
A new venture called Merative — which was formed recently from the ashes of IBM’s Watson Health division — has decided it will no longer provide the media with pricing changes for specific medicines. This includes details such as separate doses and packaging on both current and historical prices.
For years, Merative’s predecessors were among a few companies that have offered such data to journalists who track and research pricing changes at a time when the cost of prescription medicines has become a hotly contested pocketbook issue for people across the U.S. The data has spurred a number of news stories that helped explain behind-the-scenes price hikes taken by countless drug companies.
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