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Many Americans would likely agree that prescription drug prices are too high. Unfortunately, the Department of Health and Human Services’ recent proposed rule requiring pharmaceutical companies to include drugs’ list prices in advertising is one of those strange cases that may lead to greater information and transparency without much real value to the health-care consumer. As several news outlets have documented, the list price to be shown in advertisements, according to the proposed rule, would not match the price that most patients would have to pay. That is due to differing prescription drug insurance plans and negotiated arrangements between drug companies and some pharmacy benefit managers. (Todd Ruppar, 10/21)

A few weeks ago I picked up my beat-up old car from the shop, only to discover from the itemized bill I received that my mechanic had charged me for an inspection I’d already had a month before. When I produced the original receipt he was very apologetic because he knew there was an equally good repair shop down the road. Price transparency and competition at work! The same day, my nut-allergic son unknowingly ate a piece of key lime pie for dessert that included a hidden almond paste. The restaurant’s lack of ingredient transparency led to a severe allergic reaction and an emergency room visit where my son received two Mylan EpiPens, intravenous steroids and anti-histamines. His expensive overnight stay was billed to our insurance but I only knew about the $100 copay. (Marc Siegel, 10/22)

The global pharmaceutical industry is no longer innovating. Research shows that 78 percent of patents approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration correspond to medications already on the market, while those disease areas not considered growth markets are ignored. From 2000 to 2011, only 4 percent of newly-approved products globally were designed to treat neglected diseases that affect lower- and middle-income countries. (Mariana Mazzucato, 10/17)

As pharmaceutical companies have faced more heat for their pricing practices, they’ve found someone else to blame: “middlemen” who extract discounts from drugmakers. But in fact, if it weren’t for middlemen like wholesalers and pharmacy benefit managers, drug prices would be even higher. When Donald Trump was running for President in 2016, he promised to rein in the high price of prescription drugs. “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” he told Time after he’d won the election. “I don’t like what has happened with drug prices.” (Avik Roy, 10/22)

Unfortunately, the 1.7 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year are in the cross hairs of the current trade dispute with China. This is not obvious on first glance, and likely not an intended consequence of the tariffs, but may have crucial implications on cost and availability of cancer care in the future to patients during their most vulnerable time. The U.S. government has imposed billions of dollars of new tariffs on Chinese goods, and predictably the Chinese have taken action to do the same against American-exported goods. These tariffs are being waged against traditional products and materials – agricultural and consumer products, as well as building and manufacturing materials. But what may not be intentional is the inclusion of leading edge, cancer fighting technologies and equipment on which millions of Americans; including veterans, seniors, and patients around the world, depend upon for life saving treatment. (James M. Metz, 10/17)

The angry protests around the 2016 Mylan EpiPen scandal brought into sharp focus the perils for patients when the price of a life-saving drug spikes precipitously, with little or no forewarning, and no ready alternative. As a Type 1 diabetic who has been dealing with escalating insulin prices my whole life, I was heartened to see the public outcry over our country’s anemic attitude toward setting affordable drug pricing policies. My concern now is that, without additional crises to capture the public’s attention, the issue will recede in significance. Rest assured, the realities for patients living under the price-spiral sword have not receded, our lives continue to be threatened daily. (Gail deVore, 10/23)