File this under “What was he thinking?”
The otherwise staid Milken Institute summit on health care grew unexpectedly heated on Thursday when George Yancopoulos, the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals president and chief scientific officer, drew boos from the crowd as he became cantankerous and talked over the panel moderator, who had expressed concern about access to high-priced Alzheimer’s medicines.
The memorable moment began when Bertha Coombs, a CNBC reporter who was leading the panel, asked about a “crisis” that may occur when the U.S. health care system attempts to pay for such a drug. She pointed to controversy that erupted several years ago when a new pill that cured hepatitis C emerged, but its high-price tag strained public and private health insurance programs.
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