EMILY STACK: Families Paying Price For Big Pharma’s Legal Games
For moms, nothing matters more than our families’ health. But for too many families, staying healthy has become unaffordable. Health insurance premiums keep increasing, and medicines have become so expensive that nearly…
For moms, nothing matters more than our families’ health. But for too many families, staying healthy has become unaffordable. Health insurance premiums keep increasing, and medicines have become so expensive that nearly one in five Americans is skipping or rationing doses to make them last longer and save money.
President Donald Trump is already doing great work to lower medicine costs. TrumpRX is a new online store that allows families to purchase medicines directly from manufacturers. The President is also pushing big drug companies to stop charging Europeans less for medicines and overcharging Americans. Yet more can be done. We need Congress to join the President’s efforts.
Generic medicines are one of the most effective ways to reduce healthcare costs for all Americans. Generic drugs typically cost 80 to 85 percent less than brand-name medicines while delivering the same benefits. And since drug costs are among the biggest contributors to rising costs, access to more generic drugs would deliver financial relief to millions of families. But unfortunately, our generic drug system — last reformed in 1984 — is now broken after years of Big Pharma lawfare that keeps affordable generic drugs off the market and prices high.
For three decades, Congress’s carefully balanced framework, known as the Hatch-Waxman Act, worked as intended. Brand-name drug companies developed new medicines, received patent protection, and enjoyed substantial market exclusivity through a well-defined process. While the law opened the door to generic drugs, it also left room for branded drug manufacturers to sue generics for patent infringement and keep them off the market. Regardless of which party won the lawsuit, this process produced legal clarity and market certainty, enabling generic entry after patent expiration and ultimately delivering lower prices for consumers through robust competition.
Then, the legal games began — led by branded drug companies. As a result, generic drugs keep getting delayed, and lower prices come later and later. With the average number of patents on drugs