Posted on 07/19/2018 8:01:48 AM PDT by GonzoII
The Trump administration wants to explore how to safely import pharmaceuticals from other countries in order to counteract major hikes in the price of drugs. Such a policy would represent a major shift from current procedure.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar requested on Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration establish a working group to examine safe importation. The request is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to tackle high drug prices, a growing driver of healthcare costs in the U.S.
“We have seen a number of both branded and generic examples in recent years where a single manufacturer dramatically hikes the price for a drug unprotected by patent or exclusivities,” Azar said in a statement.
He cited the case of “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who hiked the price of an anti-malarial drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent in 2015.
“Safe, select avenues for importation could be one of the answers to these challenges,” Azar said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Lawsuits will delay if not end this.
Pharma will not give up 1000% profits without a fight, and they have a lot of .gov in their pockets.
Still, if Trump can do this, I support it.
We are the only country paying for research.
The Socialist LEFT only pays for manufacturing.
We have been subsidizing the Socialist Healthcare of the Socialist LEFT countries for decades.
Look for fewer drugs coming online.
When my brother had leukemia and underwent chemotherapy, my family didn’t care what it cost. We would have sold everything we owned to pay for it. It was more important that is was available.
It saved his life.
When I see drug reps in the dr offices and they are dressed to the teeth and drive vehicles the rest of us can only drool over, and buy the entire dr office lunch, you know that the price of medicines is way over the top.
Why not from Canada? Way cheaper
U.S. citizens are forced to subsidize cheap drug prices in the rest of the world. In 2015 we paid 3X the price of prescription drugs in Britain, 6X the price of the same drugs in S. America and 16X the price in India. We either need to force other countries to funnel money back to U.S. companies for research or pass a law bringing drugs into line with the rest of the world. U.S. citizens can’t carry the responsibility of paying for all the R&D for drug companies.
I know ;)
Art of the Deal.
This is sabre-rattling intended to force Big Pharma to come to the table.
It’s a matter of getting a reputable pharmacy.
There are many scams operating out of Canada, but we found a good one.
Snort, this won’t even get to the starting line.
I have metastatic prostate cancer. I received a 3-month injection of Lupron this Tuesday. Cost to insurance company = about $7500. Same injection I could get in Victoria, BC at a regular pharmacy is $1200.
Original patent expired several years ago, but the pharmaceutical company made a very minor change to the formula and was allowed to restart the clock on the patent. That process is called evergreening and it is a corrupt practice allowed by Congress to keep the campaign contributions pouring in.
A good start would be to immediately allow drugs manufactured in the U.S. and shipped overseas to be re-imported.
American manufacturers must send allocations to price controlled countries. Suppliers in those countries then mark up the drugs and resell them at higher prices to Americans. That’s why there is a perpetual shortage of drugs in foreign countries. This idea is not sustainable as many drugs are sold at a loss in the first cycle. The answer is to lower the cost of approving the drugs.
The new drug pipeline that creates sophisticated chemical compounds to fight complex diseases relies entirely on a handful of countries.
Some people are committed to shrinking that small number even further.
It’s ridiculous. India came out with an autoimmune disease fighting drug which is in line with current research that indicates virus infected B cells put out antibodies which attack the body. The drug is effective in halting B cell production allowing the immune system to eradicate the virus. Six months later B cell production resumes without viral infection and the autoimmune disease is gone.
The drug is called Redditux. It’s specifically blocked by the FDA, TSA, Customs etc. from entering the country. Americans are travelling to Hong Kong for Redditux treatment.
The US has a similar drug called Rituximab. It is used for cancer. Off label use has shown it is also effective fighting auto immune diseases. It costs $25K per treatment and must be done twice a year, for the life of the patient.
Don’t take drugs
My advice
Great. Melamine filled statin capsules.
No thanks.
Oh, for Pete’s sake. The prices are lower because those governments institute price controls and American consumers end up getting stuck to cover the difference.
Want cheaper prices at home? Ban export of American pharmaceuticals to any country with price controls on the exported med.
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