Americans are right to be concerned about the high out-of-pocket costs of pharmaceuticals. But targeting America’s free enterprise system is the wrong solution. Putting bureaucrats abroad in charge of deciding how our drug market operates may save some money now, but it’ll hurt consumers in the long-run. This op-ed, published in Real Clear Health, explains […]
Counterfeits Kill: Stronger Law Enforcement Needed
When one thinks of counterfeit goods, it can conjure up images of customers being duped into buying inferior quality designer bags or other fashion knockoffs. However, when it comes to the manufacturing, distribution and sale of counterfeit medications, the outcomes can be much more serious and life threatening. Most consumers probably don’t realize that counterfeit […]
ACI Releases Paper on the Effects of Adopting Foreign Price Controls on Drugs
Washington, D.C. — Today, The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI), a non-profit consumer education and research organization, released a white paper, “How International Reference Pricing for Prescription Drugs Would Hurt American Consumers.” Recently, some lawmakers and other federal officials have promoted international reference pricing as a way to reduce drug costs for […]
Inside Sources: Pharmacy Benefit Managers Pad Their Profits at Your Expense
The harmful and anti-competitive business practices that PBMs thrive on are made possible by the industry’s secrecy and lack of transparency. Plan sponsors and beneficiaries should be given more information about how their insurance plans are managed and what rates are negotiated. Pharmacies should be allowed, and even encouraged, to point customers to lower-cost alternatives […]
Prescription Drugs That Your Insurer Objects to Paying For
Consumers have a love-hate relationship with prescription drugs. We love the wonderful new drugs that treat and sometimes cure conditions that were once life-threatening, but we hate the sometimes-unaffordable prices of the latest drugs. Consumers who have prescription insurance coverage are somewhat insulated from the full price of drugs, but insurers and pharmacy benefit managers […]
Can Drug Prices be Lowered?
Lowering the consumer price for a drug is in the public interest, provided that its sales margin recovers its development cost. Pharmaceuticals do not spontaneously emerge like weeds in a field. They are complex chemical or biological agents that are painstakingly designed and extensively tested for safety and efficacy. That said, there are steps worth […]
Amazon’s Next Step in the Pharmacy Industry
With the acquisition of PillPack, Amazon played another card in its high stakes contest of elbowing its way into retail pharmacy. Amazon has long been expected to make a move into the pharmacy space, and the 64,000 US retail pharmacies are not pleased to see Amazon sticking its big nose under their tent. Assuming that […]
Clawbacks — Another Source of Prescription Cost Overpayment
Brand and Generic drug prices show different pricing behaviors. In brand drugs, we see the effects of the 20 years of monopoly protection accorded to the first patent holder. However, the 20 years starts when the drug is invented, not when the FDA authorizes it for public use. Usually brand drugs are affordable despite noticeably […]
Lab Developed Tests Can Deliver Consumer Safety and Benefits
Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) have become a source of convenience and hope for patients, but they have also triggered controversy about the safety of their impact on consumer expectations, and about the accuracy of the clinical results they provide. In 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services […]
Drug Supply Chain; Prices Too Costly
Consumer dissatisfaction with drug prices is not news, but it has not yet been addressed by competition or Congress. Consumers are elevating the issue to one of national importance, and the biopharmaceutical industry is beginning to pay attention, because they dread what is coming next – people from the government who are here to help. […]
