A Prescription for America's Prescriptions

Authors

Haley Gintis

Abstract

The issue of prescription drug costs has dominated the U.S. political discussion, both at the federal and local levels, as the amount individuals must pay to receive the medicines they need continues to increase. In this context, the debate over how best to determine a reasonable drug price and which existing drugs should be subject to such prices has spurred multiple legislation proposals. However, the implementation of a reasonable price mandate to control the cost of prescription drugs is not a novel idea. The U.K, India, and Germany have all established reasonable drug price schemes. This Comment examines why past U.S. legislation has failed to decrease drug prices and how the U.S. can leverage lessons learned from the U.K., India, and Germany to best determine which factors to utilize for a reasonable drug price determination and which drugs to mandate to price caps. This Comment concludes by determining that the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, introduced in September 2019, shows the most promise in reducing prescription drug prices by combining the U.K.’s reference pricing system and Germany’s value-based system, while still requiring that research and development cost is considered in the price determination.

Recommended Citation

Haley Gintis, A Prescription for America's Prescriptions, 35 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 63 (2021).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol35/iss1/3