From the White House to Capitol Hill, our leaders have pledged to put America First – promising to Make America Healthy Again and Affordable Again by tackling the sky-high prescription drug prices that have become an epidemic in this country. But to succeed, they must do more than hold Big Pharma’s feet to the fire – they must also reckon with the system Big Pharma has rigged for years. It’s a “tried-but-untrue” process to stamp out competition and force American families to pay the world’s highest prices for prescription drugs.
President Trump is working hard to hold the industry accountable. In addition to issuing an Executive Order (EO) mandating that pharmaceutical companies deliver Most Favored Nation drug pricing to Americans, the President also sent letters to 17 of the world’s largest drug manufacturers demanding they take action to cut costs within 60 days. Made public just last month, the letters emphasized that “Americans are demanding lower drug prices and they need them today. Other nations have been freeloading on U.S. innovation for far too long; it is time they pay their fair share.”
But with Big Pharma companies dragging their feet on complying with the EO nearly three months later, more action is needed – starting with reform of the very system that Big Pharma companies exploit to keep prices high.
For decades, drugmakers have engaged in a raft of unfair and anti-competitive practices, including the use of legal loopholes to extend drug patents and prevent cheaper generics from reaching store shelves. Primary drivers of high drug prices include patent evergreening, where Big Pharma will prolong patent protections, often for minor changes, to maintain market control, and “pay-for-delay,” where they pay generic companies not to bring lower-cost alternatives to market. Too often, the industry acts more like a monopoly than a competitive free market.
To further solidify its stranglehold on the system, Big Pharma has learned to master the influence game – spending tens of millions of dollars every year to lobby policymakers and block consumer-friendly reforms.
As a result, Big Pharma companies have free rein over prescription drug prices in America, which they leverage to set increasingly high prices for new drugs at launch and to raise prices for existing drugs further year after year. In fact, between 2022 and 2023 alone, manufacturers raised the price of more than 4,000 drugs by over 15%.
Despite its best efforts to shift blame for high prices and point the finger elsewhere, Americans know Big Pharma is to blame. Over 80% of Americans – including about 9 in 10 Republicans – agree Big Pharma is primarily responsible for the high cost of prescription drugs. Americans also agree on the reforms needed to end Big Pharma’s harmful tactics and lower prescription drug prices. In fact, 78% of voters support President Trump’s Most-Favored Nation Executive Order, including 61% of Democrats, demonstrating the strong bipartisan support for this reform.
President Trump is doing his part – condemning Big Pharma for setting prices that are “very unfair,” and fighting hard to stop drug companies from ripping off U.S. patients while the rest of the world gets a discount.
Now, we need key agencies, like the FTC, and leaders in Congress, to hold Big Pharma accountable and safeguard Americans’ access to lifesaving – and affordable – prescription drugs. What could be more “America First” than that?
J.D. Hayworth is a Republican and former six-term U.S. Congressman from Arizona. He is a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance.