Washington, D.C. — On Friday, President Donald Trump will deliver a speech on lowering the cost of prescription drugs. A new column by the Center for American Progress finds that, for all of the president’s talk on this important issue, drug prices and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry are soaring under the Trump administration.
Key findings from the brief include:
- Over the past 14 months, 20 prescription drugs saw price increases of more than 200 percent, while the world’s highest-selling drug, which is used to treat inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, saw a 19 percent price increase.
- Prices of the most-prescribed drugs under Medicare Part D have risen 10 times faster than inflation over the past five years.
- Seven top pharmaceutical companies collected a cumulative $12.1 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2018. This was a 29 percent increase from the same time last year.
- Rather than lower drug prices for consumers, five of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies are using their savings from the tax bill on $45 billion in new stock buyback programs to benefit shareholders.
Click here to read “The Cost of Trump’s Inaction on Prescription Drug Prices” by Madeline Twomey.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 202.741.6292