{"id":1979137,"date":"2023-07-21T00:35:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T04:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/law-allowing-for-government-negotiation-with-drug-firms-on-prices-is-troubled\/"},"modified":"2023-07-21T00:40:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T04:40:10","slug":"law-allowing-for-government-negotiation-with-drug-firms-on-prices-is-troubled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/law-allowing-for-government-negotiation-with-drug-firms-on-prices-is-troubled\/","title":{"rendered":"Troubles arise with law permitting government &#8216;negotiation&#8217; on drug prices."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flaw-allowing-for-government-negotiation-with-drug-firms-on-prices-is-troubled%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1979137&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A Major Issue: Shortages of\u200c Antibiotics and the Implications<\/h2>\n<p>A minor item in Politico about shortages of antibiotics in the country likely went unnoticed by most\u2063 people, but the implications\u200b are far-reaching.<\/p>\n<p>At issue in the publication\u2019s July 10 Pulse email newsletter was a pending revamp of the nation\u2019s pandemic and\u2063 emergency preparedness law, the 2006 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. The House\u200b Energy and Commerce Committee was grappling with \u2063several provisions.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Addressing \u200cShortages: A \u200cPush from Top Democrats<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cTop Democrats,\u2062 including\u200d ranking member Frank\u2064 Pallone (D-NJ), have \u2063been pushing to \u200cinclude policies meant\u2062 to address\u2062 the shortages that have impacted antibiotics, ADHD medication,\u2063 and cancer \u200bdrugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Those\u2062 shortages didn\u2019t arise because of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/critics-biden-infrastructure-plan-doesnt-address-cyber-security-threats-to-u-s-power-grid\/\" title=\"Critics: Biden infrastructure plan doesn\u2019t address cyber security threats to U.S. power grid\">supply chain issues<\/a>, anything related to the COVID-19 pandemic, or lack of capital to make such drugs. The problem stems from provisions in one of President Joe Biden\u2019s signature legislative \u200cachievements, the Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter decades of \u2064attempts, the \u200dInflation\u2062 Reduction \u2064Act will lower Rx costs for \u200bmillions of Americans by hundreds \u2014 or in \u200csome cases thousands \u2014 of \u200ddollars per year by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices,\u201d\u200d Biden tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>Negotiation in buying typically \u2063means the seller offers something at X and the\u2064 buyer responds by saying they\u2019ll pay Y. The two sides meet somewhere in the middle. Despite the\u2063 word \u201cnegotiation\u201d appearing in the text of the IRA, no actual negotiation takes place. The\u200c government \u201cnegotiates\u201d\u200b by setting a \u201cmaximum fair price\u201d for\u2063 which a manufacturer, importer, or producer\u2063 must agree\u2064 to, and that is the \u201cagreement.\u201d \u2063The seller doesn\u2019t get \u200cto counter the price \u2064for \u2064something else.<\/p>\n<p>If there is a \u2064failure to comply (i.e., \u2064\u201center into agreement,\u201d according \u2062to the law\u2019s text), the government imposes a daily excise tax on sales of\u200b those particular drugs \u2014 taxes that can hit a high of 95% \u2063\u2014 or they can forgo Medicare and Medicaid coverage \u2064of \u200bthe drug.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2063 has a deleterious effect on pharmaceutical companies\u2019 ability to invest in more research and development. According to \u2064a 2021\u200d report from\u200d the Congressional Budget Office, the\u200c pharmaceutical industry spent $83 billion on\u2064 R&#038;D\u2064 in 2019. Adjusting \u2064for inflation, it is approximately\u200b 10 times\u200b what the industry spent in the\u2063 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>Three factors play into what a company will spend \u200bon\u2064 R&#038;D. One, the amount\u2062 of revenue they\u2062 expect to earn from\u2062 a new\u200d drug. \u2064Two, the \u2062expected cost\u2062 of developing that drug. \u200bThree, policies that influence the supply \u2064of\u200b and demand\u200b for drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Whether\u2062 a pharmaceutical company agrees to the price the government wants or accepts paying excise \u2063taxes on those \u200cdrugs, it deprives \u200dthem of money needed for research and development, and the law already has \u2063produced negative consequences. According \u200cto consulting firm Horizon \u2062Government Affairs, at \u2064least 24 companies announced that they\u2019re curtailing drug \u2064development\u200d because of the Inflation \u200bReduction Act. Eli Lilly\u200c announced it was\u200d canceling work on a drug that had been undergoing studies for certain blood cancers, and Alnylam said it would suspend development\u200c of a treatment \u200dfor \u2062Stargardt disease, a rare eye\u2063 disorder.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, a provision in \u200cthe IRA treats small molecule drugs\u2063 differently than large molecule drugs (biologics), despite both having the \u200csame time to recoup investment into their development, which is approximately 14 years. The IRA provides only \u2064nine years for protection \u2063from government price controls, as opposed to 13 years for biologics.<\/p>\n<p>In May, Daniel Skovronsky, \u200dEli Lilly\u2019s chief scientific and medical officer, wrote in an article for Stat, \u201cThere is no scientific reason for this \u2064distinction,\u200c and it will have a real \u200band detrimental impact on drug discovery and patient care.\u200c Nine years is not enough \u2064time to\u200d recoup the deep investments into\u2063 small molecule R&#038;D before government price controls take\u200b effect. As a result, companies\u2062 will deprioritize small\u2064 molecule programs,\u200b lowering the potential to \u2064create drugs using these technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u200c 2021 \u200bCBO report said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-plan-to-snatch-medicare-dollars-from-seniors-to-subsidize-their-rich-friends\/\" title=\"Democrats Plan To Snatch Medicare Dollars From Seniors To Subsidize Their Rich Friends\">drug pricing legislation<\/a> then being \u200cconsidered by Congress would reduce expectations about future revenues \u200bfor pharmaceutical companies, \u2063resulting in fewer dollars going toward\u2064 research and development. Particularly \u200dwhen the government will choose drugs for\u200d which spending \u2063was\u2064 the highest. The CBO said the result would mean eight fewer drugs introduced\u200b into the U.S. market \u200cin the first \u200c10 years of the legislation, and 30 fewer drugs in the\u200b subsequent 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>Now that\u200d the \u2063drug pricing \u201cnegotiation\u201d provision is law\u200c and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/connection-failure\/\" title=\"Connection Failure\">real-world effects<\/a> are kicking in, members of Congress, including Democrats, could put pressure on the Biden administration to \u200cadjust it. After all, with less money for research \u200dand development, along with no incentive to continue producing existing drugs, there will be a demand for critical \u2062changes to the IRA once a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/law-allowing-for-government-negotiation-with-drug-firms-on-prices-is-troubled\/\" title=\"Troubles arise with law permitting government 'negotiation' on drug prices.\">drug shortage affects patient care<\/a> on a significant scale.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/op-eds\/shortages-of-antibiotics-and-the-implications\">CLICK HERE TO \u2064READ MORE\u200d FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Politico article on antibiotic shortages may have gone unnoticed, but its implications are significant. The article discussed the proposed changes to the 2006 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which deals with the country&#8217;s pandemic and emergency preparedness. The House Energy&#8217;s July 10 Pulse email newsletter highlighted this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1979138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1979137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1979138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}