[Pharmaceutical companies argue that drug costs are justified.] It's important to look at the prices of medicines in the context of the cost that it takes to get a medicine in the first place, ... On average, (it's) about $500 million for each new medicine that gets to market. |
During that six-year time period, prices for all medicines went up 16 percent, compared to an overall inflation rate for all products of 15 percent. |
information to patients so they can go in and have a more informed conversation with their physician about new cures and new treatments. |
It's very important that (a fix) be done through the private sector, and not through a single, one-size-fits-all government program that's going to straight-jacket senior citizens, |
The president's plan is the wrong solution, |
We think the current system has worked quite well to protect the public health by leaving it in the hands of the manufacturer to figure out whether you have the right safety circumstances in order to allow a medication to be shifted from a prescription-drug status to over-the-counter status. |