Fran Quigley writes for Common Dreams about the need to end pharmaceutical company monopolies if drug prices are going to come down. The federal government right now could exercise its “march in” rights and do just that if it chose to. But, it is so beholden to the pharmaceutical industry, it is not clear when it will.
We do not have a free market for prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies have monopoly pricing power for brand-name drugs only because Congress has given them patent protections. Without those protections, drug prices would come down substantially.
It costs drug companies pennies to manufacture a drug. But, because of their patent protections, pharmaceutical companies can charge prices that are literally thousands of times more than it costs to manufacture and distribute the drugs. And, insurers pay them; they profit from these high prices.
Today, we are paying for the discovery of many drug innovations, from which pharmaceutical companies profit handsomely, with our tax dollars. The National Institutes of Health funds most drug research. In fact, it has funded research for every new drug developed in the last ten years.
The consequence of pharmaceutical patent protections: A large proportion of Americans cannot afford the medicines they need.
The House of Representatives passed HR3, which would allow the government to negotiate the price of hundreds of drugs over the next 10 years. And, it would limit the price of these drugs to around what other wealthy countries pay for them. But, the Republican-controlled Senate has let this legislation sit on the cutting room floor.
Until HR3 or other legislation is enacted to lower drug prices, the Department of Health and Human Services should exercise its power to make drugs affordable for everyone. It has the power to issue licenses to other drug companies to manufacture and distribute drugs that are priced too high–“compulsory licensing” power. The government also has the power to directly manufacture these drugs. Either way, the patent holder is paid a fee. However, the government has not used this authority.
The government’s power stems from the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. It gives the federal government “march in” rights to issue a compulsory license for any drugs discovered with federal funding. The only condition is that the drug must be deemed not to be available on “reasonable terms.”
We should also nationalize the vaccine industry and give government the ability to innovate and produce critical medicines. By so doing, we would not have to rely on the pharmaceutical industry for critical drugs.
There is no reason we need to be beholden to Big Pharma. The US has used compulsory licensing as a threat many times before. In dozens of instances, prices have come down. But, President Trump’s administration won’t use it or even threaten to. Instead, they force millions of Americans to go without needed medicines they cannot afford.
Here’s more from Just Care:
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