Disrupting the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

While President Trump again called for lower prescription drug prices for American consumers in his 2019 State of the Union address, in May 2018, the Trump administration released American Patients First, their “blueprint” for lowering prescription drug prices and out-of-pocket expenses for American consumers. A key component of this Administration blueprint is a proposed 123-page administrative rule, released by the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on January 31, 2019. “This proposal has the potential to be the most significant change in how Americans' drugs are priced at the pharmacy counter, ever, and finally ease the burden of the ‘sticker shock' that millions of Americans experience every month for the drugs they need,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.