“The approval of Repatha is another example of a breakthrough medication with a too high price tag. With several game-changing medications in the pipeline, we need to address the underlying issue of how these prices are set from the start before they hit the market.”
“Breakthrough treatments such as Praluent hold tremendous medical promise for certain patients, but it’s price tag makes us question how long the health system can sustain these costs for patients managing chronic conditions over several years.”
“Breakthrough treatments such as Praluent hold tremendous medical promise for certain patients, but its price tag makes us question how long the health system can sustain these costs for patients managing chronic conditions over several years,” John Rother, president of the National Coalition on Health Care, said in a statement.
Amid the growing clamor, cancer medication has drawn particular ire. The average price of new cancer drugs in the U.S. increased five- to tenfold over 15 years, to more than $100,000 a year in 2012, according to the Mayo Clinic journal editorial.
In recent years, increasingly specialized medications and an aging population that takes more drugs have substantially boosted the price of treatments for cancer, hepatitis C, cystic fibrosis and other diseases.
The $1,000 pill for a liver-wasting viral infection that made headlines last year is no longer the favorite of patients and doctors. The new leading pill for hepatitis C is more expensive, and the number of patients seeking a cure has surged.
A new PricewaterhouseCoopers report on medical cost trends highlights how specialty drugs are outpacing traditional drugs in a major way.
John Rother, President of the National Coalition on Health Care and Chair of the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing issued the following statement in response to a recent health tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation that found that an overwhelming 76% of Americans blame pharmaceutical companies for the rising cost of medicines.
Sophisticated drugs are opening the door, scientists say, to an era of “precision medicine.” They’re also ushering in an age of astronomical prices.
May 21, 2015 Morning Consult: “New Cures, Old Problems: Poll Shows Drug Affordability Addles Americans” “The House Energy and Commerce Committee is slated to vote today on legislation that offers incentives to the pharmaceutical industry to develop new drugs and devices. But the bill does little immediately to address what a new Morning Consult poll found […]