After weeks of intense scrutiny on its pricing practices, Mylan Pharmaceuticals announced today that it would offer a coupon to patients that cannot afford life-saving EpiPens. Mylan’s public relations move does nothing address the real affordability problem facing American families: the underlying price of the medication.
“Prescription drug prices rise faster than inflation every year and taxpayers are footing the bill for these higher prices. Even if you don’t take a medication, you’re paying for it,” Rother noted.
“The dangerous trend of high-priced drugs has to be reversed and a common-sense solution like measuring the value and cost-effectiveness of medications is one necessary step to fix the broken prescription drug market, but it must also be combined with increased transparency and competition.”
It’s widely known that prescription drug prices are on the rise, but a new study attempts to undermine the
role skyrocketing prescription drug prices play in increasing health care costs. The truth is that the study is
critically flawed.
“Patients with chronic conditions, such as Hepatitis C, benefit immensely when breakthrough, life-changing drugs provide a cure where none existed before. But when states are driven to create access limitations to that same drug for their Medicaid populations, we have to acknowledge something is not quite right here.”
“We are glad to see that the court rejected AstraZeneca’s effort to abuse the Orphan Drug Act and restrict generic competitors to Crestor,” said John Rother. “Additional competition in the prescription drug market—including generic options—is crucial to lowering prescription drug prices and providing patients with more affordable choices.”
Members of the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) gathered on Capitol Hill to discuss market-based policy solutions to curb rising drug prices.
“Voters across the country are calling for action by their elected officials to make sure patients and families don’t have to choose between filling a prescription and putting food on the table,” said CSRxP Executive Director John Rother. “The trend of rising drug prices needs to be addressed, and we expect voters will take that message – and a call for solutions – to candidates at all levels this fall.”
Our new board game illustrates how pharmaceutical companies have a monopoly on the current pricing system and the different ways they keep prices high.
“With this provision, policymakers are rewriting the rules to benefit pharmaceutical manufacturers for slightly tweaking their product and reintroducing it as a new ‘innovation,’” CSRxP Executive Director John Rother said.