Event Description
Between 2009 and 2018, average drug prices more than doubled for many Medicare patients, forcing millions of patients to skip doses or fail to fill prescriptions. The US system of drug distribution and pricing is complicated, opaque, and largely free of governmental price constraints.
Pharmaceutical corporations charge essentially what the market will bear. Once patents expire on a brand-name medication, a lower-cost generic version —similar but bearing a lower price tag— may become available. Generics are often touted as the answer to high prices, providing essential medications within the reach of most.
However, generics have not yielded the hoped-for lower costs, even for important essential medications like insulin and albuterol, medications that people with common chronic conditions depend upon to live. Prescription drugs in the U.S. cost triple the price of other developed countries. How did this happen? And what is the solution? How can we best move forward to ensure medical access to all?
Event Information
This event is free and open to the public; Registration required. Please visit the event webpage for additional information.
Hosted by the New York Academy of Medicine.
