[e-drug] Trump blames developing countries for high medicines prices in US

e-drug
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E-DRUG: Trump blames developing countries for high medicines prices in US
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Draft Trump Order Abandons Campaign Promises to Challenge Big Pharma and Make Medications Affordable

Statement of Peter Maybarduk, Director, Public Citizen's Access to Medicines Program - June 20, 2017

Contact: Peter Maybarduk, pmaybarduk@citizen.org, (202) 588-7755
Don Owens, dowens@citizen.org, (202) 588-7767

Note: Today The New York Times published an analysis of a draft Trump executive order on prescription pricing and innovation. Public Citizen reviewed portions of the order text in cooperation with the Times.

Big Pharma has captured the Trump administration. The Donald Trump who promised to make medications more affordable, ease Americans' pain and take on the giant corporations is nowhere to be seen. Instead, the draft Trump executive order, formed in significant part by pharma lobbyist Joe Grogan, would increase profits at the expense of patient safety while failing to reduce costs - and even potentially raising them.

The Trump order shifts blame for pharma's price gouging to federal programs, hospitals and Medicaid, among others. Shamefully, the order even blames developing countries and outlines a plan to intensify the patent abuses that already cost lives around the world.

The way to reduce medicine prices in the United States is to reduce them in the United States. Making medications more costly for the world's poor won't make them more affordable in the U.S., and won't help Americans who are forced to choose between paying for their health care and paying the rent.

There is nothing complicated about reducing drug prices; it just requires the will to take on the pharma lobby. Instead of the half measures in the draft order, the Trump administration should:

* End monopolies and allow competition. The government should authorize generic competition with unattainable patented drugs as a means to reduce costs for public programs.

* Block backroom corporate deals that keep medications out of reach. Federal agencies should litigate aggressively to prevent, stop and recoup ill-gotten gains of pay-for-delay deals and prevent anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.

* Crack down on pharma fraud. Federal agencies must crack down on corporate crime, including routine pharma practices to overcharge the states, manipulate safety data and illegally market their products.

* Support meaningful legislative reform, including the Stop Price Gouging Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to stop manufacturers from dramatic increases for medications such as the EpiPen and opioid addiction treatments.

Read Public Citizen's analysis of how pursuing new patent rules abroad will not lower prices in the United States and what the Trump administration should do instead.

(c) 2017 Public Citizen * 1600 20th Street NW / Washington, D.C. 20009 *
Peter Maybarduk, pmaybarduk@citizen.org

Posted by
Lucas F.M. van der Hoeven
The Netherlands / Europe
Lucas <lucas.van.der.hoeven@cbsm.nl>

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E-DRUG: Trump blames developing countries for high medicines prices in US (2)
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Dear colleagues,

This development is yet another strange edict from the US leadership that seems to be founded on deliberate reversal of all things progressive. It is no longer 'Yes we can!', but 'No we will not'. One of course hopes that the due process that is established within US Government framework, will bring light to this matter, specifically in terms of the role developing countries have played in reducing global prices for health commodities, particularly essential medicines.

In fact, the dynamics of trade in essential medicines to the developing countries has had a positive impact on trade in medicines in developed countries. Consider parallel importation of medicines within the EU that started back in early 2000 (if not earlier than that); the promotion of quality generic medicines with public healthcare in European countries; the investment in generic manufacturing business by ethical companies, etc. I believe there have been gains for public health cost from these changes, that arose from the experience of challenging prices for essential medicines in relation to developing countries.

Colleagues may be interested to look back to 2002 when the UK Government set up 'Working Group on Increasing Access to Essential Medicines in the Developing World- Policy Recommendation and Strategy' report to the Prime Minister. That Working Group consisted of UK pharma industry, the UN, EC, etc. As part of setting up the Group and the Report, UK- based NGOs and international generic companies had been consulted; it was in that process that we (as ECHO International Health Ltd), were consulted to present a short paper on our experience in procuring generic medicines and supplying these to developing countries. One can see that the differential pricing (or preferential pricing, or equity pricing, or tiered pricing') was not to be end of it: This Report also laid out the fact even the UK's health sector needed to continuously look at its own spend for its essential medicines.

The fact remains that all the work done to date in respect to cost of essential medicines was ever aimed at destroying the so- called 'big pharma'. If any thing, these companies have adapted but still remain profitable. So, Mr Trump need only look at dynamics within the US and deal with those matters, as suggested by Lucas in his post. He cannot not blame developing countries for challenges being faced by this industry in the US. In fact, developing countries actually continue to create profits for US pharma and health product businesses, through these countries spending their own fund to procure goods from the US companies, or through financing innovations such as the Gates Foundation, Global Fund.

Regards,

Bonnie

Bonface Fundafunda PhD., MBA., B.Pharm
Mobile: +260 973 315 052
Zambia
BONFACE FUNDAFUNDA <bcfunda@hotmail.com>