Thread by @BethWaldron

A man "working on behalf of the Office of The President" @CVSHealth called me outta the blue 2x last week wanting me to explain my TWEETS.

Listen as I'm told execs & @KarenSLynch herself review recordings & the 'case' they compile on me & other PBM Caremark insured patients.🧵

2) I do hope @KarenSLynch gets involved to get Eliquis back on Caremark national base formulary. As @FortuneMagazine 'Most Powerful Woman in Health Care' I haven't understood why her company couldn't negotiate a favorable deal with @bmsnews so patients have covered access.

3) Eliquis & Xarelto retail for about the same price.
My local Walgreens: Eliquis $617, Xarelto $620.Data below from @P4AD_ It's always a bit odd when 1 company raises their price within days of the other to match. 🤔 @bmsnews @JanssenUS Point is, note the retail costs.

4) Now note the rebate (kickback) to PBMs from pharma on these same drugs, average 66.5%. (source @SSRHealth @DrugChannels). As I've said, the ONLY reason Xarelto would be exclusively preferred over Eliquis on a formulary is due to a much higher rebate. No clinical reason.

4) When Caremark dropped Eliquis from formulary, 150,000 patients at high-risk for cardiovascular events already stable on it were forced off or had 2pay the full retail price. We don't get the rebate!! After 8 years on Eliquis switch to Xarelto, warfarin or pay $617mo my choice.

5) Yet for my condition Eliquis (apixaban) has been shown to have less recurrent clot & risk of major bleeding. I nearly died of a clot. My dad died of a bleed. I fear both. I advocate so care decision made between patients & their doctors based on clinical data are honored.

6) It's simply fact that Caremark decided to drop Eliquis from formulary for non-medical reasons. In doing so, they removed a top therapeutic for the prevention of stroke & DVT & that's why doctors, patients & 16 nonprofits are speaking out to get it back on formulary.

7) I won't rehash it all, but see this thread for the backstory on the Eliquis drop & Caremark's calls to me last week based ONLY on my TWEETS of a @FOX13Memphis story. I'm very concerned about the disregard of my medical record privacy.

8) @KarenSLynch by now you've reviewed 'my case', know patients are having stroke, bleeds simply because CVS got a better rebate from @JanssenUS than @bmsnews. What are YOU going to do about it to get Eliquis back on formulary for ALL patients nationally to prevent more harms?

9) tagging for help
@linakhanFTC @FTCPhillips @RKSlaughterFTC @CSWilsonFTC @RepBuddyCarter @SenFinance @HHSOCR @OIGatHHS @HHS_ASH @matthewstoller
My Congress Reps: @RepDavidEPrice @SenThomTillis @SenatorBurr