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Beth Joyner Waldron Profile picture
Beth Joyner Waldron
@BethWaldron
Patient advocate. Speaker. Writer. DVT/PE survivor. Co-founder UNC Clot Connect. Knowledge empowers, action transforms.
Feb 27 • 16 tweets • 6 min read
Congress is failing to address PBM reform without ever calling patients to testify.
The PBM execs have spoken.
The pharma execs have spoken.
Since apparently the only public platform patients have is social media, let me give an example how patients are being harmed.
🧵1/ Patients are caught between PBMs & pharma. Let's use as example a drug class so effective & popular they are the #1 (Eliquis) & #3 (Xarelto) federal drug expenditures. Even @JoeBiden & multiple members of Congress take them: anticoagulants aka 'blood thinners'. 2/ Image
Jan 12 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
🚨EXPOSED🚨
$CVS manager admits: “I don’t give a f*ck about this G-D job”.
PBMs determine WHICH drugs we can access, WHERE & their COST. Imagine being a patient forced to obtain critical medications only from this pharmacy.🧵1/
(Warning: video contains offensive language.) For patients, the video's less-than-professional pharmacy environment simply reflects a final indignity faced when acquiring prescription drugs & vaccinations. There's often not the consumer freedom to go elsewhere. This MUST change as vertical corp integration rises. 2/ Image
Oct 23, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
A death due to PBM practices.

1 in 4 people die from clot related conditions. Anticoagulants treat/prevent. Yet insurer PBMs routinely put up barriers to these effective, life-saving drugs. Adverse events result. 🧵@linakhanFTC @BedoyaFTC @HELPCmteDems @GOPHELP @RebeccaDRobbins Image Anticoagulants MUST be added to @HHSGov @CMSGov protected drug class! Given their importance to prevent clot & inherit risks in this medication class, namely bleeding, this MUST be done ASAP @BrooksLaSureCMS to protect patients. PBMs are unqualified to manage anticoagulation. Image
Sep 12, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
New GAO report on drug rebates leaves no doubt that PBM formulary placement & utilization management decisions are NOT influenced by efficacy, safety, or medical need---as we've been told. Rather $$$
gao.gov/products/gao-2…
Image "All plan sponsors and drug manufacturers had rebate agreements where manufacturers offered rebates for their drug based on the condition that competitor drugs be subject to restrictions in order to limit their utilization." Wow, think about how that motivates PBM decisions.
May 10, 2023 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
.@SenTedBuddNC In today's @GOPHELP you asked PBMs about their rationale for how how formulary placement impacts patients ability to fill prescriptions from their doctors. You were told it was based on clinical evaluation. This is not true. I have the evidence to prove it. Image I & 150,000 stable heart patients at risk for stroke & clot were forced off our long time medication by the largest PBM against our doctors wishes. 17 nonprofits said it was dangerous, largest cardiology nonprofit drafting clinical care guidelines met multiple times w/ the PBM. Image
Oct 17, 2022 • 22 tweets • 11 min read
🚨🚨🚨 EXCLUSIVE AUDIO of senior CVS Caremark executives disparaging patients as "brand terrorists" who Tweet about poor PBM service accessing medications or score them low on satisfaction surveys.🧵1/ Audio is from a PBM Operations town hall event. Topic is a shift in methodology with the “Net Promotor Score” (NPS) which will allow CVS Caremark to minimize “detractors” to skew data towards being able to report more positive consumer satisfaction survey results. 2/
Aug 8, 2022 • 14 tweets • 6 min read
The private John Legend concert CVS Health hosted (despite restrictive formularies, non-medical switching & denying patients medication access due to cost) was just the icing on the cake CVS leaders enjoyed this week in Orlando. Let's take a peek at good times on patient dime... Image Disney Epcot. LOTS of Disney photos floating around social. Reddit says some CVS 'leadership experience' attendees were given spending money for Epcot because it was a 'team building exercise'. 🤔 ImageImageImage
Aug 7, 2022 • 8 tweets • 6 min read
Since I & 150,000 fellow heart patients forced off our life-saving medication by @CVSHealth 1/1 for profit reasons didn't get invited to their corporate leadership party featuring a private concert by @johnlegend see what we funded via their $157.4 BILLION 6 month 2022 revenue. I was told I could not have covered access to the blood thinning medication I'd been stable & doing well on for the past 8 years as my doctor prescribed because 'drug prices are high, gotta manage costs'. In fact, they were getting a $$ kickback/rebate to prefer another drug.
Aug 6, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
CVS Health threw a party for leadership this weekend complete with a private @johnlegend concert. The 150,000 heart patients they forced off their medication this year against doctor's advice aren't partying. They still haven't been notified it's back on formulary so they get it. There's nothing wrong per se with spending part of your $80 billion per quarter revenue on a corporate retreat, IF you are also providing superior patient care. Yet when at-risk patients are having documented adverse events from non-medical drug switching your company forced...
May 26, 2022 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
To be clear there is no true 'win' for cardiovascular patients until @CVSHealth actually provides access to ALL patients. CVS is refusing to notify the 150,000 patients they forced off their meds 1/1 its covered again 7/1, despite adverse events in this population. Despicable. Nor is CVS even willing to confirm coverage details with the nonprofits trying to reach these patients through their outreach networks. Because they 'lost' they are making it as difficult as possible for stroke & clot patients to access the medications they NEED to stay well?!
May 17, 2022 • 8 tweets • 6 min read
Mercy. @CVSHealth REFUSES to notify the 150,000 patients they forced to switch anticoagulants 1/1 their medication will be covered again 7/1. Simply updating plan information in October! They had no problem mailing us when taking away our medication. THIS is why patient protections are needed! @FTC @linakhanFTC @MikeCrapo @RonWyden @SenBlumenthal @SenBlumenthal @SenFinance Even in the face of adverse events, public pressure & having to restore the drug to formulary, this PBM won't take the most basic action to help patients!!
May 12, 2022 • 22 tweets • 12 min read
Dad bleed to death 5 years ago today.
I usually prefer to remember his life, but ever since I got the letter from @CVSHealth PBM Caremark saying I couldn't continue on the anticoagulant with the lowest risk of major bleeding, Dad's final moments have been heavy on my mind. 🧵 I got the call around 4am from my parent’s neighbor saying there was blood everywhere in Dad’s bedroom. Mom was hysterical. EMS were on the scene. 2/
May 4, 2022 • 19 tweets • 12 min read
CVS Health reported $2.3 billion in profit for the first quarter, which exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
I've read $CVS Q1 report & frankly, it's sickening to me as a patient who was denied access to my life-saving medication for purely profit-motivated reasons the same Q.🧵 2/ First the $CVS financials:
Total Q1 revenues ⬆️to $76.8 billion,⬆️11.2% compared to prior year
In PBM Caremark segment, total revenues⬆️8.6% to $39.4 billion
Q dividend ⬆️10%, $722 million shareholder return, first corp stock buy back since 2017.
Earnings forecast ⬆️
☀️💵
May 2, 2022 • 9 tweets • 7 min read
@SenBlumenthal please examine how PBMs limiting drug access is tied to cost. See Caremarks exclusion of Eliquis over objection of 16 nonprofits & how it has imperiled patient safety while NOT lowering patient cost. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rt… commerce.senate.gov/2022/5/ensurin… CVS Caremark forced 150,000 stable heart patients off their long-time medication over the objection of 16 non-profits putting patients at risk. Adverse stroke & bleed events are now happening. Simply because the PBM got a larger rebate/kickback from 1 drug company over another.
Apr 22, 2022 • 5 tweets • 5 min read
Non-medical drug switching--born not of clinical reasons but out of the revenue-maximizing contract negotiations between pharma & PBMs--has tangible human impact. I am one of those impacted. #CardioTwitter #StopTheSwitch #MedTwitter #TwitterRx onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10… 2) Shared decision making necessitates that no one stand between a patient & clinician making decisions based upon the clinical evidence.
yet
Non-medical drug switching= the insurance PBM knows better than patient & doctor.
#MedTwitter #CardioTwitter #TwitterRx #StopTheSwitch
Apr 21, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Why prior authorization is NOT the answer to helping patients stay on their long-time effective medications due to PBM formulary coverage drops & non-medical switching: 2) Prior authorization (under my insurance plan) increases the patient's costs, moving the drug from co-pay status to one of co-insurance & deductible. Example: When Caremark dropped Eliquis as a Tier 2 covered drug & I got a PA, it increased my cost by $2,400 annually.
Apr 19, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I've been asked 'why am I such a vocal patient advocate?' None of us escapes sickness. Many of us will face a serious illness. I've walked in those shoes as both patient & caregiver. Years ago I worked in health admin, but I choose to VOLUNTEER now because helping feels good. 2) I think of my Dad. I watched him bleed to death on anticoagulation. I want my doctor who knows me to be the one to make the evidenced based care decisions about my own anticoagulation & not my insurer. Would Dad have understood a non-medical drug switch letter from a PBM? No.
Apr 18, 2022 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
I filed a formal complaint w/ @HHSOCR @lisajpino re CVS Caremark Office of President @KarenSLynch use of my medical info to silence my tweets sounding 🚨 on adverse stroke & bleeds in multiple states as a result of their non-medical switching of anticoagulants in at-risk pts. 🧵 2) Caremark (who covers 1 in 3 Americans) admitted it is standard corporate practice to ACCESS AN INSURED PATIENT's PRESCRIPTION RECORD & cold contact the patient based BASED SOLEY ON A SOCIAL MEDIA POST about the company or tagging of an exec--a clear HIPAA violation.
Apr 12, 2022 • 10 tweets • 9 min read
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.
Apr 10, 2022 • 25 tweets • 15 min read
Please help.

PBM CVS Caremark cold called me 2x because of my TWEETS about their Eliquis drop & resulting patient harms. A 🧵

Please RT & tag your elected leaders, media, ANYONE who can help protect patients.
#TwitterRx #MedTwitter #CardioTwitter 2) For those new to the Eliquis CVS Caremark coverage issue, take a moment to read my patient story & the issue explainer I published in @RPTHjournal : onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
Jan 31, 2022 • 6 tweets • 7 min read
I filed a @FTC report on CVS Caremark practices forcing 150,000 heart patients off Eliquis over the pleas of 16 national nonprofits. Patients are captive PBM consumers in need of federal protection. Investigate @linakhanFTC @FTCPhillips @RKSlaughterFTC @CSWilsonFTC @FTCWATCH @FTC @linakhanFTC @FTCPhillips @RKSlaughterFTC @CSWilsonFTC @FTCWATCH Here's what the American Society of Hematology said to CVS Caremark:
"gravely concerned"
"serious impact" on patients
"ASH urges CVS to reconsider"
They cite clinical data showing ⬆️bleed risk ⬇️ outcomes.
hematology.org/-/media/hemato…