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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 25 sepTember 2018

DRUG PRICES a ratio of 96-to-1. Elsevier drug pricing expert
Continued from Front —In June and July, right Kay Morgan said the data
Health and Human Ser- after Trump's price cut pre- indicate companies are
vices Secretary Alex Azar, diction, there were 395 being more cautious about
the administration's point price increases and 24 price increases, but Trump's
person for efforts to lower decreases. The two dozen criticisms are just one fac-
drug prices, conceded in a cuts were up from the 15 tor.
recent AP interview that it decreases in those same "It's everyone saying, 'This
will be a while before drug two months last year, but has got to stop,'" Morgan
prices fall. He noted the increases still outpaced de- said.
complexity of the medicine creases by a ratio of 16.5- She cited frequent media
market and its incentives to-1. coverage, patients and
for drugmakers to boost —The median price in- their advocacy groups
prices so they and middle- crease, meaning half were pressuring members of
men make bigger profits. higher and half lower, was Congress to fight high drug
"I am not counting on the 5.2 percent in June and prices, and Congress hold- In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018, photo Health & Human Ser-
vices Secretary Alex Azar speaks during an interview with The
altruism of pharma compa- July of 2018, down from 8 ing hearings on huge price Associated Press in New York.
nies lowering their prices," percent in that period in increases. Those include Associated Press
said Azar, who was a senior 2017. hikes for EpiPen emergen-
executive in Eli Lilly & Co.'s —The median price cut this cy allergy shots and the ac- most by 9 percent to 9.5 latest.
U.S. business for a decade June and July was 11 per- tions of disgraced former percent, according to Else- Seven other major drug-
when it dramatically raised cent, much smaller than pharma executive Martin vier's data. makers, perhaps hoping
prices for its insulin prod- in comparable periods in Shkreli, who hiked the price "Pfizer & others should be to avoid their own Twitter
ucts. prior years. of an old infection treat- ashamed that they have spanking by Trump, have
The AP analyzed 26,176 The AP also asked 24 large ment from $13.50 to $750 raised drug prices for no since said they wouldn't
U.S. list price changes for drug companies this sum- per pill overnight. reason. ... We will respond!" increase prices for the rest
brand-name prescription mer if they planned to cut "The rate of increases has Trump tweeted . After a of the year. All of them had
drugs from Jan. 1 through drug prices. None said they slowed down, but prices call with Trump, Pfizer exec- already taken price hikes
July 31 in the years 2015 did, though some didn't an- haven't decreased," said utives reversed those price on many of their products
through 2018, using data swer. Drugmakers typically Stephen Schondelmeyer, hikes until January at the in January.q
supplied by health informa- say they need to keep rais- a University of Minnesota
tion analytics firm Elsevier. ing prices of existing drugs professor of pharmaceuti-
The AP focused its analysis to pay for costly, lengthy cal economics who runs its
on the first seven months of research to develop new research program on drug
each year because of the medicines, though industry prices and public policy.
seasonality of price chang- critics dispute that. He noted such temporary
es and to make meaningful Dr. Peter Bach, who heads pricing restraint occurs pe-
year-to-year comparisons. the Center for Health Policy riodically, around elections
The data included more and Outcomes at Memo- and other times when the
than 97 percent of price rial Sloan Kettering Cancer issue is hot, but then com-
changes during those pe- Center in New York, said panies go back to raising
riods and, for many drugs, the AP's analysis shows drug prices.
several dosages and drugs there's been no big move Edward Jones drug analyst
forms, such as pills, liquids to decrease prices. Ashtyn Evans said, "com-
and injectable drugs. (In "We have a broken pricing panies are self-policing
the 3 percent of cases not system," he said. more." She noted many
analyzed, the AP couldn't In the U.S., drug pricing is firms are now taking one
determine how the new far from transparent. Man- price hike near 10 percent
price compared with the ufacturers typically set high once a year, instead of two
previous one or whether it list prices but then negoti- or three smaller hikes each
was for a product new on ate rebates and discounts year.
the market.) with middlemen, such as "That started before Trump
Among the AP's findings: prescription benefit man- was even elected," she
—There were fewer price agers, to get preferential in- said.
increases this year from surance coverage for their Pfizer, the biggest U.S. drug-
January through July than products. Many consum- maker, angered Trump
in comparable prior-year ers never see the list price, by raising prices on July 1
periods, but companies though rising drug prices for 40 medicines and vac-
still hiked prices far more generally put pressure on cines, totaling more than
often than they cut them. insurers to raise rates. Pa- 100 products, with some
This year through the end tients with high-deductible increases hitting 9 percent.
of July, there were 4,412 or no insurance often get Pfizer had already hiked list
brand-name drug price in- stuck being charged the prices in January for all but
creases and 46 price cuts, full list price. two of those medicines,