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jimnyc
04-06-2017, 01:38 PM
Some say that Trump has accomplished absolutely nothing since he has been elected. I think NightTrain needs to find his thread about accomplishments, and update it with this, and other things that have been "positive"...

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The Trump Effect: Lower Drug Prices

President Donald Trump’s campaign promises already have convinced drug companies to lower prices and increase transparency.

In January, Trump put the pharmaceutical industry on notice that drug prices were too high. President Trump explained that drug companies were “getting away with murder.” Trump added, “PhRMA has a lot of lobbies, a lot of lobbyists, a lot of power. And there’s very little bidding on drugs. We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world, and yet we don’t bid properly. We’re going to start bidding. We’re going to save billions of dollars over a period of time.”

Later that month, the president argued that the federal government could save $300 billion if it could negotiate drug prices.

President Trump explained in an interview with Time magazine, which named him “Person of the Year,” that he intended to lower drug prices. Trump said, “Well actually the drug companies haven’t done well. I saw the other day the drug companies have not gone up very much. Because I’m going to bring down drug prices. I don’t like what’s happened with drug prices.”

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Last December, the Senate blocked a measure from Senator Bernie Sanders to amend the 21st Century Cures Act, allowing the importation of prescription drugs from other countries and for Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Sanders said on the Senate floor, “I am quite confident that all of my Republican colleagues will support an amendment in my hands that will do exactly what Trump said he would accomplish as president.”

Now, pharmaceuticals cost America over $350 billion a year, which is roughly two percent of gross domestic product. Ravo Mehrotra, of MTS Health Partners, estimated that the government could save $16 billion if the government negotiated drug prices.

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Sanofi and Regneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that its new treatment for atopic dermatitis, a painful skin condition, will cost $37,000. This is a substantial decrease from the $50,000 price tag for similar treatments.

Roche Holdings AG, lowered its price for a multiple sclerosis drug to $65,000, 25 percent cheaper compared to a 15 year-old competitor, Rebif.

Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer told investors, “We believe that Sanofi and Regeneron and the payers are heading perhaps towards setting a new paradigm.” Schleifer added, “But it ain’t over yet.”

Roger Longman, CEO of data analytics company Real Endpoints, said that pharma companies will have to lower drug prices under President Trump. Longman said, “In the old days, if you could convince the physician that one drug was slightly better than another, then he or she would prescribe it, it didn’t matter what the cost was.” Longman added, “Now, the decision makers are the payers: the insurance companies, the employers.”

Marathon Pharmaceuticals paused the launch of its new drug, Emflaza, facing intense public scrutiny regarding the drug’s astronomical $89,000 price tag. Martin Shkreli, famous for raising the price of the drug Daraprim, said that, “These guys invented price increases. I literally learned it from them.”

Since the election of Donald Trump, several large drug companies offered to lower the annual increase of drug prices. Novo Nordisk President Jakob Riis promised to limit the annual increase in drug prices. Riis explained, “We hear from more and more people living with diabetes about the challenges they face affording healthcare, including the medicines we make. We take this issue seriously and have been thinking about what we can do to better support patients,” Riis said. “This has become a responsibility that needs to be shared among all those involved in healthcare and we’re going to do our part.”

Rest here - http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/04/06/the-trump-effect-lower-drug-prices/