President Trump broke with most Republicans on the issue of drug pricing possibly supporting a plan that many Republicans called “socialist”.
Stephen Ubl, president and CEO of The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America called PhRMA, opposes the Pelosi plan saying “it gives the federal government unprecedented, sweeping authority to set medicine prices in public and private markets while importing price controls from other countries that restricted access to innovative medicine.”
“Speaker Pelosi’s radical plan would end the current market-based system that has made the U.S. the global leader in developing innovative, lifesaving, treatments and cures,” he said.
I do not support the Pelosi bill as I think the government has a place in protecting us in this industry from drugs that may be harmful but do not want to destroy the profit motive. The next industry that is thought to be to “expensive” may be yours.
It is wonderful to be a physician but why go to school for so many years and then be told by “uncle” how much you can earn, while watching how much money is earned by athletes, movie stars, politicians, etc. It was congress that passed the current legislation that prohibits negotiation of Medicare drug prices.
To limit the number of drugs in a year to 250 drugs in medicare that do not have competitors and would impose severe financial penalties on drug companies that failed to come to an agreement is an arbitrary misuse of government authority.
Prescription drug prices are a major issue for discussion today but writing about what I see and hear about them is a very difficult topic.
The subject matter is confusing in its own right but the concept of choosing an industry and having the government interfere in its day to day operation and setting of prices is not what America is all about.
I understand that certain industries are already under the control of the government in setting prices and more in the following industries, telecommunications, health care, railroads, airlines, pipeline transportation, oil, gas, and more.
The pharmaceutical industry in this country is operated by private investments in publicly traded companies and does have many rules and regulations in place now that dictate how it may conduct business. It has shareholders no different than those people who invest in any of the large companies in the above spaces that I mentioned earlier such as airlines, energy, etc.
Why should we now instead of figuring out a way to lower costs that makes sense be willing to dictate how much money the private investment can earn if they choose to invest in such companies that now account for about 45-50 of all new drugs and is one of the few remaining industries that the United States is a leader in.
When a drug finally makes it to market, drug manufacturers set the drug’s list price based on a number of factors. However, this is not the price you pay. Your employer, insurance company and their pharmacy benefit manager all play an important role in the final cost of your prescriptions.
That being said, it is a very complicated concept, the lowering of prescription drugs prices, that is being challenged by so many different parties.
Prescription drug pricing is not only a problem of the U.S. Prescription drug prices are very much involved with the WTO or World Trade Organization. the World Trade Organization is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
The agreement on” Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property” or TRIPS in an international agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization.
Sharon Friel, writing in an article entitled “Global health disruptors ”Doha’ declaration”, an agreement adopted by the WTO 2001, reaffirmed flexibility of TRIPS member states in circumventing patent rights for better access to essential medicines says “power imbalances threaten access to medicines for all countries.”
The outcomes achieved in the Doha declaration stand in stark contrast to the progressive “ratcheting up” of intellectual property rights in free trade agreements negotiated outside the WTO.
This resetting of global trade rules does not bode well for the future of global public health, with the issues of price and access to medicines now a concern to all countries”.
The TRIPS Agreement is a minimum standards agreement, which allows members to provide more extensive protection of intellectual property if they so wish. Members are left free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the Agreement within their own legal system and practice.
Bertram Drachtman
Great Neck
