We know pharmaceutical companies are greedy. Most, if not all, companies are greedy and will do what they can to maximize profits. But, Congress continues to allow that greed. As long as it does, we will pay increasing amounts for our prescription drugs.
It’s no surprise that Accountable.us, a government watchdog group reports that the big Pharma companies are prepared to raise prices significantly on more than 350 drugs. However many billions the pharmaceutical companies earned in 2022 is irrelevant if they can make more in 2023.
For example, Pfizer is raising prices on more than 90 drugs. Ibrance and Xalkori, cancer drugs, will see 7.9 percent price increases. Why would Pfizer want to put an end to soaring profits in 2021 and 2022 if it does not have to?
Higher drug prices allow the pharmaceutical companies to say that they can invest more money for research. The truth is that these companies put more money into stock buybacks and dividends than on research. And, when they conduct research, the research generally focuses on drugs that are similar to what’s already on the market, where they know they can find huge demand, rather than drugs for rare conditions that have no treatments available.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is unlikely to pick up where their predecessors left off on drug price negotiation, in the Inflation Reduction Act. Pharma gives oodles of money to them to make sure. So, for now, we have simply the possibility of Medicare negotiating drug prices for 60 drugs over the next several years–if Pharma does not succeed at blocking those negotiations.
One reform, with some bi-partisan support, that Congress has a small chance of enacting, would allow Americans to import drugs from around the world from verified pharmacies. Ideally, the proposal would also require insurers to cover those drugs, as they would cost a lot less than the same drugs in the US.
Today, millions of Americans import drugs from abroad for personal use, with no reported safety concerns, although it is not legal for them to do so. At the same time, tens of millions of other Americans can’t afford the drugs they need in the US, compromising their health.
Here’s more from Just Care:
Leave a Reply