Posted on 01/31/2018 2:41:27 AM PST by markomalley
Almost a year to the day after meeting with pharmaceutical executives at the White House, President Trump is once again calling for lower prescription drug prices.
In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he said it's one of his highest priorities for the year ahead:
"One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs," the president said, drawing sustained applause from Republicans. Turning to the Democrat side of the aisle, Trump gestured for the seated lawmakers to join Republicans in their standing ovation.
"In many other countries, these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States, a nd it's very, very unfair. That is why I have directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one my top priorities for the year. And prices will come down substantially. Watch!"
Even some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, stood and applauded for that last remark.
Trump also called for speedier access to "breakthrough cures" and cheaper generic drugs, noting that the FDA in 2017 "approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our history.
"We also believe that patients with terminal conditions should have access to experimental treatments that could potentially save their lives," Trump continued.
"People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure -- I want to give them a chance right here at home. It is time for the Congress to give these wonderful, incredible Americans the 'right to try.'"
In a meeting with pharmaceutical executives on January 31, 2017, President Trump said:
"We have to get prices down for a lot of reasons...For Medicare, for Medicaid, we have to get the prices way down, so that's what we're going to be talking about.
"We're also going to be streamlining the process, so that, from your standpoint, when you have a drug, you can actually get it approved if it works, instead of waiting for many, many years. The U.S. drug companies have produced extraordinary results for our country, but the pricing has been astronomical for our country. Gonna do better," Trump promised.
Trump said last year he's always been "disturbed" by the FDA's refusal to approve experimental drugs for terminally ill patients who are going to die within weeks regardless.
"So we're going to be changing a lot of -- a lot of the rules."
I was reading a medscape article, yes, leftie loon medscape. They were stating the 24 dollar prescription of opiates will sell for 4 thousand dollars. They didn’t say tax free, but wow! That’s 4 Thousand tax free dollars per month.
I have physicians saying they are shocked to see their patient convicted.
How much cheaper than free?
Common sense about drugs. Who’da thunk?
I suppose the democrats are going to be against trying to lower the cost of expensive prescription drugs now...
Farmacias just across the border sells prescription drugs cheap.
Why stop at prescription drugs ? Let's just have big brother manage prices of our food as well !
This is an issue where we should be very careful.
I live in a country with VERY cheap pharmaceutical drug prices. I can get just about anything I could want for little to nothing and without a prescription.
But many of the generics are made by China. And you have to watch very carefully to make sure you actually get the drug you were asking for and not a cheap placebo.
Some of the doctors I know here keep some of the more common heart drugs from the USA on hand in case the generic drug does not do what it should be doing. I have gotten a lot of anecdotal stories about bad drugs, bad reactions and other stuff.
There is a good reason for the high cost of drugs in the USA. Research and development. And these are the reason that real doctors, from all over the world, try to get US branded drugs and pharmaceuticals.
Bingo. You institute price controls on anything, you will get exactly what you pay for.
As someone who works in early-phase drug development...thank you.
I don't disagree that US consumers pay higher prices for drugs, but it IS costly to develop and bring innovative medicines to market. It's a high-risk, and timely business.
Price controls are not the answer, but perhaps charging other countries more, and doing away with bureaucracy here in our system would help.
That said, I do expect a lot of reaction from the FR hypocrites, who claim to be free marketers, but who are cool with price controls on drugs.
I think a primary reason for these price disparities is that nations such as Canada and European nations with national care systems are able to demand lower prices, Then the drug companies just offer lower prices to poorer nations south of the border in order to increase the volume of sales to them.
And there is probably a fair amount of ‘what the market will bear’ pricing in the US.
Farmacias just across the border sells prescription drugs cheap.
...
Sugar pills are cheap to make. How do you know what you’re getting.
Our son’s allergy/asthma doc gave us the name of a Canadian pharmacy. We could no longer get a maintenance med that works here for under $600. 60 doses of the name brand cost $55 from the Canadian pharmacy.
His rescue inhalers no longer work as well thanks to a change in the propellant (assume for environmental reasons). A teammate’s mom has noticed him struggling during matches this year and offered to pick up a few inhalers in Mexico this month. She’s a nurse with asthma and the inhalers there still have good propellant. Ten dollars for three of them instead of $75 for one that doesn’t get the med to the lungs when needed.
I understand that the cost of the med is paying for years of research and agree that companies need to make a profit. For years our son’s medications equaled a small mortgage payment and we had no prescription coverage in our insurance. He’s struggled more because there were times I left the pharmacy in tears without a medicine because there simply wasn’t enough money in the account to pay. Prices changed each month-sometimes insurance wouldn’t even let the drug be run through as it was denied and we would have had to pay the astronomical uninsured price. Then he ended with the cheaper alternative that doesn’t work.
Should there be government oversight? I don’t know, but the current system is awful and people, like my son, suffer.
Understand... I am not for Price controls from our government. We don’t need another level of bureaucracy. However, what good are the drugs when the people who need them can’t afford them?
I would sure like to know what they’re supposed to do. Die? Can’t afford the? Too bad. So sad.
I propose this solution:
For prescriptions based on behavior (AIDs, Lung Cancer, Type II diabetes) they patient pays a higher co pay. Not a lot. But higher.
Too many of the prescriptions are the result of horrible eating, smoking, and generally living a sedentary life. I count myself among these people.
But, I know that within 3 months of watching what I ate and making a true effort—I’ve cut my Diabetes meds in half. But I get my drugs without a co pay. I SHOULD pay more because they are directly related to a formerly bad lifestyle.
I understand there drugs that eat away at savings. My Mom needs about $800 a month in prescriptions. But they are related to dementia and old age things like thyroid issues. Nothing she could have done to change those things.
But I walk around the hospital where I work and at 6 ft, 240 pounds I am one of the “skinny” folks I see.
You have my sympathy, my wife has chronic bronchitis and half a lung from cancer radiation. Some days it is really bad and I get very scared.
But we have also seen what a generic drug, not made correctly, can do. I have a friend who was a missionary in Belarus whose daughter died from a very badly made generic flu vaccine, right in the mother’s arms.
The price is horrible, but you have a good track record of the efficacy of the medicine, with the generics you have nothing but faith in the company who you think made it.
There are some wild disparities in drug prices even within the US. Luckily, I only occasionally use one prescription drug. I found a source for it online (an online pharmacy in the US) where I get 90 capsules for $54.00, a three month supply. At well known chain drug stores the same prescription costs $49.95 for 30 tablets.
You might look at the healthwarehouse.com website and search to see if your son’s inhaler is available from them. It’s located in Kentucky and your doctor would only have to call or fax in the prescription if you should find some savings there.
I also priced a liquid version of the same prescription drug I use and that price was much higher than chain pharmacies. So, everything isn’t cheaper there.
When they rant against "Big Pharma" but say nothing about "Big Government" they aren't FReepers at all. They're communists.
I’ve read that big pharma spends more on advertising than they do on drug R & D
If Americans are subsidizing the much lower prices in other nations for the same US made drugs, do you consider that to be prices set by the free market?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.