House Democrats Urge Trump to Address Medicare Price Negotiation, Patent Abuse in Drug Pricing Plan

Ahead of an anticipated speech on drug pricing by President Trump on Friday, a group of House Democrats spelled out their own list of actions needed to deal with the problem.

An effective plan to reduce drug prices must include negotiated prescription drug prices under Medicare, transparency to shed light on drug manufacturing costs, and allowing safe importation of prescription drugs from other countries, wrote the Affordable Prescription Drug Task Force in a prepared statement.

The group called for action against the tactics brand-name drug manufacturers use to abuse the patent system and hurt competition, such as pay-for-delay arrangements, misuse of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies and patent “evergreening,” in which patent-holders extend their exclusivity by adding new patents to a drug.