Page 34 - What Doctors Don't Tell You - AU-NZ (February-March 2020)

ER
Y
EV
P
EVERY PICTURE...

The price is always right

The US spends more on pharmaceuticals than any other country—and those prices keep

rising,helpedbymulti-million-dollarlobbying campaigns and payments to politicians

henTuringPharmaceuticalsramped Annual inflation of drug prices far
upthepriceofitsdrug,Daraprim,by
W5,000percentovernightin2015,theUS outstripped that of other consumer costs
mediaandCongresswereshocked—butthedrug
industryregardeditasbusinessasusual. Average price rise
Anddefendingtheextraordinarypricehike, Year in goods and Average drug
CEOMartinShkrelididwhatthedrugindustry services (%) price increase (%)
alwaysdoes:hehiredateamoflobbyiststohelp
with“Congressionaloutreach.”Thatway,his 2006 3.3 5.9
decisioncouldbejustifiedanddefended.
WhenitcomestoCongressandpricingpolicy,
thedrugindustrylikestohuntasapack.Itstrade 2007 2.9 6.6
association,thePharmaceuticalResearchand
ManufacturersofAmerica(PhRMA),increased 2008 3.8 8.7
duesby50percentin2016toraiseanextra$100
millionforlobbying.
PhRMA’saverageannualspendisUS$19.9 2009 0.3 8.2
million,usedtoconvinceCongressthatcurrent
pharmaceuticalpricelevelsarejustified,aswouldbe 2010 1.6 7.8
anyhike,evenupto5,000percent,perhaps.
It’snotjustthelobbyfirmsthatbenefit.According 2011
tothecampaigngroupCitizensforResponsibility 3.2 9.7
andEthicsinWashington(CREW),399members
oftheHouseofRepresentativescollectively 2012 2.1 12
receivedatotalofUS$16millionindrugindustry
“donations”duringthe2016election.Inaddition, 2013 1.5 15.4
HillaryClinton’scampaignwashandedUS$2.42
million,andTrump’samiserlyUS$343,000. 1
Butit’smoneywellspent,withtheUSpaying 2014 1.6 16.1
moreforitspharmaceuticalsthananyother
countryintheworldandthosepricesstillrising. 2015 0.1 15.5
Theaveragepricehikeissettoreach6.3percent
in2019—acontinuingtrendthathasseenaverage
drugpricesincreaseby172percentintheUSovera 10-year increase 21.6 172.1
10-yearperiod,whilepricesforgeneralgoodsand
serviceshaveincreasedbyjust21percent.
WhilemostagreethattheUSdrugpricing
systemisbroken,onlythemoneyisdoingthereal
talking.

REFERENCES
1 CREW,ABitterPill:HowBigPharmaLobbies
toKeepPrescriptionDrugPricesHigh.
www.citizensforethics.org

34 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ