Drug Prices Rise 7% For Drugs Most Commonly Prescribed For Seniors--Two-and-A-Half Times the Rate of Overall Inflation

Many health care experts point to the creation of Medicare as the time that the American health care system's costs began to explode at an unsustainable rate. Simply, they believe that a huge infusion of government money drove both the supply and the demand for services setting the stage for today's cost problems.That has made many wonder what impact the new Medicare Part D drug benefit, which

Drug Patents and "Pay-For-Delay"--Drug Industry Payoffs That Need To End

I call your attention to a recent op-ed by a member of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, in the Washington Post.Commissioner Leibowitz writes about the growing practice of "colluding with competitors to keep lower-cost generic alternatives to prescription drugs off the market."The Hatch-Waxman Act made it easier for generic drugs to enter the market once a name brand drug's patent has

Drug Reimportation from Canada––The Drug Industry Loves It

Well, the illegal kind of reimportation anyway.For many years we have been debating the issue of drug reimportation--the importation of American drugs from other nation's, such as Canada, at much lower prices which their government-run systems enable their pharmacies to charge.Drug reimportation was never going to be much of a solution to America's high drug price problems--just how many excess

The Senate’s Mixed Message on Drug Reimportation—They Voted For it Before They Voted Against It!

To be completely fair, they actually voted against it before they voted for it but the outcome is the same.A whole lot of Senators now go down as voting for the ability of drug wholesalers, retailers, and consumers to bring drugs in from industrialized nations where prescription drugs are a lot cheaper. This provision was one that could have really had an impact on drug prices.While drug

A Drug Reimportation Bill Continues to Receive Bipartisan Congressional Support

A drug reimportation bill that would enable consumers, drug retailers, and wholesalers to import cheaper foreign drugs from FDA-approved plants and warehouses continues to gain support. The CBO reported that the bill would generate $50 billion in savings for pharmaceutical purchasers over 10 years.While a floor vote has not yet been scheduled in either house, we continue to believe this, or a

Medicare Drug Negotiation Legislation and a Drug Reimportation Bill––Will They Be Merged?

Legislation to give pharmacies and drug wholesalers the ability to take advantage of lower drug prices in places like Canada, where government controls produce much lower prices, has been introduced in the new Congress.Unlike bills that would only give consumers this ability to import drugs—something lots of people are doing anyway—this would turn the market upside-down by letting the big U.S.