Draft Order on Drug Prices Proposes Easing Regulations
“This is the executive order to lower drug prices — why would you put in a provision that would raise drug prices?”
In recent weeks, the industry has shown signs it believes it is getting a fairer shake.
However, “other countries pay lower prices for drugs in part
because their governments control prices,” said Allan Coukell, senior director of health programs at the Pew Charitable Trusts.
“I do believe that the president wants to do something to lower drug prices for people,
but this is a far cry from what he said on the campaign trail,” said David Mitchell, the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs, a nonprofit that does not take money from the industry.
For example, the document directs the United States trade representative to conduct a study of price differences between the United States and other countries, and to review trade agreements
that may need to be revised “to promote greater intellectual property protection and competition in the global market.”
The pharmaceutical industry has said that Americans pay the highest prices to compensate for low prices in other countries.
But a draft of an executive order on drug prices appears to give the pharmaceutical industry
much of what it has asked for — and no guarantee that costs to consumers will drop.
He has accused the industry of “getting away with murder,” and said
that he wanted to allow the federal government to negotiate directly with drug companies over the price of drugs covered by Medicare.
