DOSE OF REALITY: BRAND NAME DRUG MAKERS INCREASINGLY UTILIZING ‘USE CODES’ TO GAME PATENT SYSTEM AND BLOCK COMPETITION
STAT Analysis Finds Drug Makers Gaming FDA Orange Book Process to Further…
Brand name drug companies are responsible for setting the prices of the prescription drugs in their portfolios. To maximize profits, at the expense of patients, taxpayers and the U.S. health care system, Big Pharma repeatedly hikes prices on existing products and sets increasingly outrageous launch prices on new medications.
Price-gouging, which leads to as many as one-in-three Americans experiencing financial hardship in affording prescription drugs, is enabled by Big Pharma’s egregious anti-competitive practices designed to extend monopolies and block patients from accessing more affordable alternatives, like generics and biosimilars.
The number of Big Pharma price increases on brand name drugs since the beginning of 2024, according to data from MM+M and The Wall Street Journal.
The median percentage increase of Big Pharma’s January 2024 price hikes, according to data from 46brooklyn Research, outpacing the 3.1 percent rate of inflation at the time.
The median annual launch price of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, up 35 percent compared to the previous year, according to a February 2024 analysis from Reuters.
Big Pharma’s price hikes outpaced inflation on nearly 1,000 popular medications every year except one between 2006 and 2020, according to a January 2024 analysis by AARP.
In December 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that Big Pharma increased prices faster than the rate of inflation on 48 Medicare Part B drugs in the last quarter of 2023.
STAT Analysis Finds Drug Makers Gaming FDA Orange Book Process to Further…
Lawmakers Should Remain Focused on Holding Big Pharma Accountable for…