America’s pharmaceutical giants are suing this summer to block the federal government’s first effort at drug price regulation. Another provision would require manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare for drug prices that increased faster than inflation. That enormous savings would come from tamping down drug prices, which are costing an average of 3.44 times — sometimes 10 times — what the same brand-name drugs cost in other developed countries, where governments already negotiate prices. Without any guardrails, prices for some existing drugs have soared, even as they have fallen sharply in other countries. Pharmaceutical manufacturers say high U.S. prices support research and development and point out that Americans tend to get new treatments first.

Source: New York Times August 22, 2023 07:08 UTC