It is hard to read a newspaper these days without coming across a story about the high and ever increasing cost of drugs. The Wall Street Journal named drug prices the top health story of 2015. Stories about drug prices fall into two general categories. The first are stories about generic and other manufacturers who are not focused on innovation (like Turing Pharmaceuticals and Valeant) but who acquire generic drugs and increase the price dramatically without adding value while also making it impossible for competitors to manufacture the drug by controlling the distribution.
While this problem is real, it is not the focus of this discussion as it may be a short-term problem that can be fixed by regulatory oversight. The second category is drugs that provide a real therapeutic benefit but are perceived to be priced “too high.” A corollary of this is a drug that might have a marginal therapeutic benefit but still has a “high” price.
Read Full Article »