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Drugmakers raise the prices of hundreds of prescription medications since January
by Michael Lee
March 10, 2021 04:52 PM

The prices of hundreds of prescription drugs have risen since January, placing a heavy burden on middle-class families that struggle to afford the often lifesaving medications.

“If this really is all about bigger profits, that’s a huge problem. It should be criminal because there are people who can’t afford these drugs and have to say, ‘I can’t take this.’ That’s the reality, and it’s wrong,” said Maria Miller, whose son, Nick, depends on expensive medication to control his epileptic seizures. “There needs to be transparency about how and why these prices increase.”

The drug the Millers depend on, Aptiom, has seen its price go up 4.7% this year alone. The family has good health insurance, which reduces the out-of-pocket costs for the drug to $540 per month. Still, Miller said that price tag is hard for her family to afford.

“I don’t think people completely understand the sacrifices families have to make just to afford medications like this,” Miller said. “We are everyday people. There are savings cards you can get from the drug companies, but we don’t qualify because we are middle class and make too much money. So, we’re just expected to find a way to make things work.”

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While there are cheaper options, Miller said they either don’t do enough to control her son’s seizures or come with side effects that lower his quality of life. For them, Aptiom is the only option they have regardless of how much it costs.

“It’s lifesaving. There’s nothing else you can say. These are lifesaving medications that allow my son to function and live,” Miller said. “It’s everything. This medication is everything for him.”

When Miller found out early this year the price of the medication was going up, she broke into tears.

“This drug is already so expensive, how could they even…?” she said. “I’m angry. I’m furious. We are literally held hostage, and they’re using my son’s health to hold us hostage. I don’t understand how this could become OK.”

Millions have felt the same pain as the Millers since January, with drugmakers quietly raising the price on hundreds of popular prescription medications.

“Since the first of the year, we saw over 800 drugs increase in price by an average of 4.6%, and that’s the largest number we’ve seen since we started tracking this,” said GoodRX research director Tori Marsh.

Other drugs seeing a rise in price include a 5% increase for blood pressure medication Bystolic, a 4.9% jump for diabetes drug Januvia, and a 6% hike for blood thinner Eliquis.

Dr. Inma Hernandez, the associate director at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing, said the increase in price isn’t always because of improvements to the product or for research and development.

“The drugs are the same drugs as last year, the same drugs as 10 years ago, yet they are more expensive, and we know drug prices are higher over time not always because of innovation,” Hernandez said.

Then-President Donald Trump launched an effort last year to reduce the price of prescription drugs, signing an executive order with a “most favored nations” pricing plan that prohibited Medicare from paying more for drugs than the lower prices paid by other countries.

"It is unacceptable that Americans pay more for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same places," the executive order read.

But Hernandez said the bigger problem is the prescription drug market itself, which would likely require federal legislation to reform.

“The pharmaceutical market is far from being a perfect market because consumers are not really able to choose products. In order for the market to work in regulating prices by itself, there has to be a wider offering of products, and because of patents, there’s very little competition in the pharmaceutical market,” Hernandez said. “Since there is very little [price] regulation, we have this situation of a dysfunctional market that fails to keep drug prices under control. We’re paying more because they know they can get away with it.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...-prices-january