Laura Wadsten
@LWadsten
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investigating healthcare + pharma @hntrbrkmedia | former @Capitol_Forum @jhunewsletter | Minnesotan in DC
Washington, DC
Joined August 2015
CGMs are literally lifesaving tech. We found a staggering number of cases where #Dexcom failed those who depend on its G7. Users described fear, anxiety, exhaustion & betrayal. Many were loyal DXCM fans for years — They want answers. They need CGMs they can trust.
NEW: False data. Deaths. Hospitalizations. Dexcom's G7 blood sugar monitor is failing diabetics. Execs are fleeing amid soaring complaints, FDA scrutiny, competition, and ticking time bomb accounting. Our investigation reveals how $DXCM lost its way—and the trust of patients.
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“These PBM GPOs only exist as a routing mechanism for the PBM itself. It’s designed to be confusing. I don’t see what purpose they serve other than being a way to funnel fees." @freer_emma in a @hntrbrkmedia fantastic exposé on the smoke and mirrors behind PBM "GPOs"👇
NEW: Insurance giants are hiding billions meant to lower Americans’ drug costs. Our year-long investigation details how CVS, UnitedHealth, and Cigna created shell companies to evade reform efforts and hide payments received from drugmakers. Cc: @mcuban
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"By categorizing as fees, not rebates, and laundering through the GPOs, they don’t have to pass through the rebates, they’re somehow carving it out." Unflattering look at PBM group purchasing organizations just released by @hntrbrkmedia
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.@carolinecaloway’s face says it all… Even when @mcuban is reading, PBM contracts don’t make a ton of sense. Contracts intended to confuse and conceal are one part of the PBM GPO scheme. Listen to our latest episode of The Hunt for the rest. Promise it’s much more exciting
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This investigation took a year — and includes some of the craziest facts we've ever found. And / also: May Hunterbrook always be a place where both @mcuban and @PabloTorre can help break big stories.
NEW: Insurance giants are hiding billions meant to lower Americans’ drug costs. Our year-long investigation details how CVS, UnitedHealth, and Cigna created shell companies to evade reform efforts and hide payments received from drugmakers. Cc: @mcuban
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“ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCAM IN HEALTHCARE”—affecting 90% of patients—CVS, UnitedHealth, Cigna created shell companies to skim patient rebates and and hide rebate payments received from drugmakers. You are paying these middlemen’s middlemen. People have died. https://t.co/33PgJM4zrb
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"By categorizing as fees, not rebates, and laundering through the GPOs, they don’t have to pass through the rebates, they’re somehow carving it out." Unflattering look at PBM group purchasing organizations just released by @hntrbrkmedia
hntrbrk.com
Three mysterious entities. Tens of billions in revenue. CVS, UnitedHealth, and Cigna created "PBM GPO" subsidiaries to divert billions of dollars.
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“‘I don’t need it, I don’t want it,’” (data services ), the drugmakers would say. And in return, Zinc would threaten to “disadvantage you versus your competitors.” “Will you buy it? Yeah. Do you use it? Probably not,” they said of drugmakers, adding, “If you’re not compliant,
@mcuban told us about PBMs: "They are covers for the Big Three to say in a contract that they pass through 100% of the rebates they get." Former Harvard Pilgrim Chief Medical Officer: "You get 100% back of what you know about, but not the stuff they're hiding." Former Zinc
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@mcuban And the cost isn't just higher drug prices. People have died. When 22 yo Cole Schmidtknecht walked into a Wisconsin Walgreens in January 2024, he expected to pay what he usually did to refill his asthma inhaler: $67 But, PBM Optum Rx had changed his plan's formulary & his
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In other words: The PBM "rebate" era is over. The "fee" era is here. What’s the difference? Not much, based on our reporting. Experts called it a “bait-and-switch” and “corporate fiction.” It’s the same greed, just rebranded with another layer of opacity.
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MASSIVE investigation out today exposing how major healthcare corporations are using secretive subsidiaries to make money off your medicine. Huge thanks to @mcuban for joining us to unpack the PBM GPO scheme!
NEW: Insurance giants are hiding billions meant to lower Americans’ drug costs. Our year-long investigation details how CVS, UnitedHealth, and Cigna created shell companies to evade reform efforts and hide payments received from drugmakers. Cc: @mcuban
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On paper, 3 little-known companies seem to generate more revenue per employee than $AAPL or $NVDA. Many times over. Who are they? Are these really the most lucrative businesses in history? ... Or a front? Tomorrow, Hunterbrook drops a massive exposé. Sign up:
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A rare feel-good story from @HNTRBRKmedia for the holidays! https://t.co/4DUDcqYQHH
hntrbrk.com
Achieve Life Sciences ($ACHV) is near FDA approval of cytisinicline as a safe, effective treatment for smoking addiction.
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EXCLUSIVE: The FDA voucher program has become a vehicle for politicization of drug review, staffers say. Staff have been forced to award certain companies vouchers due to White House deals, and at least one voucher was awarded despite staff concerns. https://t.co/weOgQxXiRY
statnews.com
Two government officials told STAT that the White House has been involved in final decisions about the FDA's new priority review voucher program for drug companies.
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🚨🚨 This is INSANE. I took this screenshot of the @FCC website at 11:52 a.m. ET where it explicitly states the FCC is an independent agency. 25 minutes later, it has been removed following Carr's comments during this hearing! See before and after screenshots below
WOW, WOW ... FCC Chair Brendan Carr says FCC "is not an independent agency formally speaking" — This, combined w his statement alluding to Trump's position on ownership cap, is very telling about Carr's POV on the agency's role in Trump era
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Two imaging centers on paper but only one dot on the map. We followed the trail through RadNet’s financials—and its AI narrative isn’t the only thing that raises questions. Read our investigation: https://t.co/ROpTa8aKBB
NEW: @BethanyMac12 who exposed Enron, reports that if you're looking for an AI bubble, you don’t need to look at the hyperscalers. Instead, look at the old-school companies slapping "AI" on pitch decks and watching valuations soar. Companies like RadNet. Our new investigation
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It’s been honor to work w/ the legendary @bethanymac12 on this story! (Extra exciting on personal level bc Bethany and I both grew up in rural northern MN!)
NEW: @BethanyMac12 who exposed Enron, reports that if you're looking for an AI bubble, you don’t need to look at the hyperscalers. Instead, look at the old-school companies slapping "AI" on pitch decks and watching valuations soar. Companies like RadNet. Our new investigation
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NEW: @BethanyMac12 who exposed Enron, reports that if you're looking for an AI bubble, you don’t need to look at the hyperscalers. Instead, look at the old-school companies slapping "AI" on pitch decks and watching valuations soar. Companies like RadNet. Our new investigation
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Bethany McLean broke the Enron scandal. Tomorrow, she publishes her first investigation for Hunterbrook — on a company that may epitomize the AI bubble. Sign up: newsletter@hntrbrk.com
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