Australian shares drop in the wake of US oil prices falling below zero for the first time, underscoring the chaos the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed on the global economy.

The live cattle trade out of northern Australia has its biggest price crash since 2011, with key markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia will buy fuel from the US at historic low prices to bolster its national stockpile, after criticisms that the Government only holds about 30 days' worth of fuel in domestic storage, far below the 90-day minimum.

A property analyst warns the worst-case scenario could see falls of up to 30 per cent, mainly in Sydney and Melbourne, while the end of the bank's mortgage repayment holidays will bring the real test for the housing market.

Fuel prices have plummeted across Australia during the coronavirus pandemic, but the ACT Government says they are not falling quickly enough in Canberra — and they are going to do something about it if prices do not fall to below $1 per litre this weekend.

Despite coronavirus restrictions sending auctions online and seeing many home sales abandoned, CoreLogic figures for April show prices continued to rise for the few properties that did sell.

Canberra petrol retailers will need to meet weekly fuel price targets to avoid the ACT Government regulating the market, despite prices dropping to about $1 per litre after the Chief Minister threatened to cap margins.

Michael Gunner issues his "first and final warning" to petrol companies to take action as the ACCC puts in its two cents on the NT's comparatively high fuel prices.

The two cottages are up for sale in a historic part of Launceston but one of the buildings will likely cost hundreds of thousands to repair.

A Sydney home sold just before COVID-19 restrictions came down in NSW for $200,000 more than a similar house around the corner — a real estate agent says online auctions are to blame for the price difference.

Medical equipment supplier Gavin Berry drove from Victoria to Queensland to the Illawarra to deliver ventilators. Other operators were a bit less altruistic.

During lockdown children are doubtless spending plenty of time staring at their devices, but are they reading books on them?

If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should call (not visit) your GP or ring the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.

YOUR pizza craving just got more expensive, with Domino’s tacking on a pesky Sunday surcharge to help cover workers’ penalty rates.

Health news and commentary from around the Web gathered by the ALLMedPage Today staff

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for this Friday’s video webinar: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers.

Part D reform has faded from the policy debate. This rerun explains why it is still needed. FYI, this is my favorite article from 2020 (so far).

Click here to see the original post and comments from January 2020.

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Our high-list-price/high-rebate system remains a fundamental source of warped incentives and cascading problems within the Medicare Part D program.

For proof, check out the previously unpublished data below on market share for products that treat hepatitis C. Despite manufacturers offering products with lower list prices, Medicare Part D plans have rejected the therapeutically identical but lower-priced versions of these drugs.

List prices significantly affect seniors’ out of-pocket costs, so Part D plans are needlessly costing many of them thousands of dollars. The federal government's Medicare spending is also unnecessarily higher.

Anyone concerned about drug prices should pay close attention to this situation. Part D plans and seniors who don’t need specialty medications are benefiting, while seniors who need treatment with specialty medications are ripped off. Just another day inside the gross-to-net bubble!
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This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for today’s video webinar: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers.

Click here to see the original post and comments from January 2020.

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Manufacturers recently announced list price increases for many brand-name drugs. The typical increase was about 5%. Judging by recent history, these moderately higher list prices will translate into another year of falling brand-name drug prices in 2020.

This surprising conclusion comes from our analysis of SSR Health data on prices for more than 1,000 drugs. Details below.

SSR Health data reveal that list prices for brand-name drugs rose by about 5% in 2019. However, net prices (after rebates and discounts) decreased by -3.1%. Drug makers discounted their brand-name drug list prices by an average of 45%.

Too many journalists and politicians remain committed to the false narrative of “skyrocketing drug prices.” In 2020, Congress may again take up drug price legislation. Let’s all hope that our country builds its public policies based upon accurate facts and reliable data. Hope has to triumph over experience eventually.
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While Gilead has yet to present a marketing plan for remdesivir—much less a price—ICER figures the COVID-19 drug could be cost-effective at up to $4,460 per patient. That means it could easily rake in blockbuster sales this year, at least theoretically.

The world is waiting for Gilead Sciences to set a price tag for remdesivir, the first brand-new med authorized to treat COVID-19. Its choice will affect Gilead's reputation and bottom line, set a tone for follow-up meds—and either help polish up the pharma industry's image or create a new flashpoint for criticism.

Three air cargo carriers, LAN Cargo S.A. (LAN Cargo), Aerolinhas Brasileiras S.A. (ABSA), and EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (EL AL), have each agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines totaling $124.7 million for their roles in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air cargo industry.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against two former executives from Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (Chunghwa) and one former executive from LG Display Co. Ltd. (LG) for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco today returned a two-count indictment against the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. for his participation in global conspiracies to fix prices of two types of cathode ray tubes (CRTs) used in computer monitors and televisions.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi Displays Ltd., agreed to plead guilty and pay a $31 million fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Dell Inc.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment today charging an executive at Hitachi Displays Ltd. with participating in a global conspiracy to fix the prices of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels sold to Dell Inc.

Three international airline companies—Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines International S.A., Japan-based Nippon Cargo Airlines Co. Ltd. (NCA), and Korea-based Asiana Airlines Inc.—have each agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines totaling $214 million for conspiring to fix prices in the air cargo industry. In addition, Asiana was charged with fixing the passenger fares charged on flights from the United States to Korea.

A high-level Korean executive from LG Display Co. Ltd. (LG) has agreed to plead guilty and serve a year in jail in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels.

A Dutch citizen and executive of Martinair Holland N.V. (Martinair) has agreed to plead guilty, serve time in jail and pay a criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to fix cargo rates for international air shipments. Including today’s charge, a total of 15 airlines and four executives have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing in the air transportation industry.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has returned an indictment against a former executive of a large Taiwanese color display tube (CDT) manufacturing company for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs, a type of cathode ray tube used in computer monitors and other specialized applications.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Epson Imaging Devices Corporation (Epson) agreed to plead guilty and pay a $26 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Motorola Inc.

Companies directly affected by the LCD price-fixing conspiracy are some of the largest computer and television manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell and HP.

Parker ITR S.r.l. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $2.29 million criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco today returned an indictment against a former executive of a large Taiwan-based color display tube (CDT) manufacturing company for his participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs, a type of cathode ray tube used in computer monitors and other specialized applications, the Department of Justice announced.

A former executive of an Iowa ready-mix concrete company has agreed to plead guilty and serve 19 months in jail for participating in three separate conspiracies to fix prices and rig bids for the sales of ready-mix concrete.

According to a one-count felony charge filed on May 6, 2010 in U.S. District Court in Sioux City, Iowa, Kent Robert Stewart, aka Kent Stewart, president of a ready-mix concrete company located in Iowa, participated in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for ready-mix concrete sold to various companies in Iowa between approximately January 2008 and August 2009.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a superseding indictment against AU Optronics Corporation, its Houston-based American subsidiary and six of its executives for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels.

A Taiwan thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel producer and seller has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $30 million criminal fine for its role in a global conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels.

According to a one-count felony charge filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Wen-Hung “Amigo” Huang conspired with others to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of TFT-LCD panels.

Northwest Airlines LLC has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $38 million criminal fine for its role, through Northwest Airlines Cargo, in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

A former executive from Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve jail time in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix the price of thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display panels.

Polar Air Cargo LLC has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $17.4 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

China Airlines Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $40 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

Panasonic Corporation and a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, Embraco North America Inc., have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, which are used in refrigerators and freezers in ho mes and businesses.

Six international freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $50.27 million for their roles in several conspiracies to fix a variety of fees and charges in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for international air cargo shipments.

The Department of Justice announced today that it filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging rules that American Express, MasterCard and Visa have in place that prevent merchants from offering consumers discounts, rewards and information about card costs, ultimately resulting in consumers paying more for their purchases.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against a former executive of a Taiwan thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) producer for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels.

A former executive from HannStar Display Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to serve jail time in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix the price of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels.

All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. (ANA) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $73 million criminal fine for its role in two separate conspiracies to fix prices in the air transportation industry.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco today returned an indictment against three former executives from two color display tube (CDT) manufacturing companies for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs.

Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $48 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry.