In a medical forum held Friday, panelists called for prescription drugs in the United States to have prices aligned with the value they offer patients, instead of simply relying on prices set by pharmaceutical companies.
Americans are either “tremendously ripped off with drugs" or getting great value, making it difficult for them to differentiate if they are getting the most out of their money, said Steven Pearson, president of non-profit group Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).
The government Medicare program is hoped to negotiate the prices of medicine as it does for other medical areas. However, this remains a murky prospect. Pearson said that the country is “millions of miles away” from the idea that Medicare can have its take on drug pricing.
The panelists participated in Drug Pricing: Public Health Implications by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in collaboration with Reuters.
In September, the HIV drug Daraprim from Turing Pharmaceuticals made headlines when its price increased from $13.50 to a reported $750 per tablet. Turing’s drug recently found competition in an alternative: a generic, FDA-approved drug selling for about $1 per capsule.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals instantly increased the prices of heart drugs Nitropress and Isuprel by 212 percent and 525 percent respectively. The cost of the heartburn medication Zegerid also rose by 500 percent this year.
Experts saw limitations in government proposals to rein in drug prices. Recently, democratic presidential bet Hillary Clinton proposed a cap on patient co-pays to assist them in coping with medical and health costs. However, Harvard professor Meredith Rosenthal likened the solution to minor pain relief, saying it will not address “the root of the problem.”
Dr. Lowell Schnipper, chair of the Value in Cancer Care Task Force of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, is “appalled” at how many people in the U.S. are getting bankrupt due to “outrageous costs.” Of specific concern are new cancer treatments estimated at over $100,000 annually or higher in the event of combination therapies.
Dr. Schnipper urged for a system to gauge if a new cancer drug provides low, medium, or high value to patients, and disagrees with solutions removing incentives for Pharma companies spending on the development of new medical products and innovations.
In a commentary, Emory University professor Kenneth Thorpe emphasized both affordability and quality in the “very necessary transition from volume-based healthcare to a value-focused system.”
“Realistically… we can't afford to focus so intensely on cost savings that quality takes a distant back seat,” he said, stressing on a healthcare system that does more will charging patients less.
Photo: Brandon Giesbrecht | Flickr
