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California considers selling its own generic prescription drugs:
California could become the first state to introduce its own brand of generic prescription drugs in an effort to drag down stratospheric healthcare costs. The plan for state-branded drugs is part of California Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal, which he is expected to unveil Friday, January 10.
"A trip to the doctor's office, pharmacy or hospital shouldn't cost a month's pay," Newsom said in a statement. "The cost of healthcare is just too damn high, and California is fighting back." A plan for California to sell its own drugs would "take the power out of the hands of greedy pharmaceutical companies," Newsom said, according to the Associated Press.
Under the plan, the state would contract with one or more generic drug companies, which would manufacture select prescription drugs under a state-owned label, according to an overview of the plan reported by the Los Angeles Times. Those state generics would presumably be offered to Californians at a lower price than current generics, which could spark more competitive pricing in the market overall.
So far, much of the plan's details are unclear, though, including which drugs might be sold and how much money they could save residents and the state.
The conceptual plan so far has garnered both praise and skepticism from health industry experts.
Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access California, told the Associated Press that "Consumers would directly benefit if California contracted on its own to manufacture much-needed generic medications like insulin—a drug that has been around for a century yet the price has gone up over tenfold in the last few decades."
(Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday January 14 2020, @09:53AM (2 children)
Two options are possible, both of which are in use by countries outside the US, the government declares certain critical drugs to be generic and buys them from the cheapest source, popular in places like Africa and Asia where the government can't afford to pay $1,000 per patient to deal with a TB epidemic, and the reverse-auction model where the government tells the pharma companies that they're going to be paid $xM for the year for their drugs, take it or leave it. Both of those keep drug prices down to very manageable levels by limiting the greed of the pharma companies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 16 2020, @02:39PM (1 child)
Can you be more specific. The FDA does have drug purity standards. Are you saying that the chemicals aren't tested for purity at the lab (ie: with Spectroscopy, NMR, etc...)? What part of the process is flawed and how?
Thanks.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday January 17 2020, @07:25AM
Are you replying to the right message? My comment was about governments putting limits on pharma companies' abilities to profit off critical medicines, while your comment is about quality control.