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from the prepare-for-sharply-worded-letters dept.
More drugmakers hike U.S. prices as new year begins:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Drugmakers including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N), Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O), and Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) hiked U.S. list prices on more than 50 drugs on Wednesday, bringing total New Year’s Day drug price increases to more than 250, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that drugmakers including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.L) and Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) were planning to increase prices on more than 200 drugs in the United States on Jan. 1.
Nearly all of the price increases are below 10% and the median price increase is around 5%, according to 3 Axis.
More early year price increases could still be announced.
Soaring U.S. prescription drug prices are expected to again be a central issue in the presidential election. President Donald Trump, who made bringing them down a core pledge of his 2016 campaign, is running for re-election in 2020.
[...] The United States, which leaves drug pricing to market competition, has higher prices than in other countries where governments directly or indirectly control the costs, making it the world’s most lucrative market for manufacturers.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday January 02 2020, @03:45PM (4 children)
You're absolutely correct, and the TV commercials drive the doctors crazy (because patients are sure they need drug X...)
Are there no alternate medications for your inflammation?
Drug prices seem to have an inflammation issue.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday January 02 2020, @06:16PM (2 children)
In some more civilised parts of the world, advertising prescription-only drugs is prohibited. [www.gov.uk]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday January 02 2020, @06:40PM
We colonists still strive for civility.
Joking aside, one of my many thoughts / observations is that many (most) who emigrated to the "New World" were kind of wild and/or desperate. So...
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday January 03 2020, @12:51PM
We segregate by age in the USA. So the average age of nightly news viewers is retirement age, statistically nobody under 50 watches legacy propaganda anymore. And those people get pelted with endless commercials back to back for weird pills they can get for free from socialized medicare which they're all on.
Always hilarious to hear arguments that endless advertising of pills to an audience of retired socialized medicine users somehow proves capitalism has failed and if we just try socialism then those ads will go away. Because 70 year old boomers will change from socialized medicare to ... socialized medicare ... and the pill ads will continue.
My guess, not being a viewer myself, is you might see "old people pill commercials" on other "old people media" like 60s/70s TV reruns or similar.
If you want old people pill ads to go away, have our existing socialized medicine system stop paying for the old people pills. That'll fix things up quickly. I would imagine old people legacy media advertisements will return to their natural state of endless ads for Florida timeshares and similar.
Meanwhile the younger folks watching fortnite dances on youtube or pr0nhub or whatever have probably never seen an ED pill or cholesterol pill advertisement. I've never seen such things other than occasionally tuning into nightly propaganda "news" reports.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 02 2020, @10:28PM
is there any way to publicly shame broadcast networks for advertising prescription drugs to try to get them to stop participating in driving up the costs to patients? (in my opinion, while we are at it, the local broadcast networks need to be shamed for advertising title pawn businesses)