The rising cost of prescriptions drugs in the USA is currently a matter of public concern not only among the policymakers but also healthcare professionals, the patients, and the general public as a whole. Over the past two years, policymakers have presented more than 25 bills prompting congressional health care and other oversight committees to hold hearings in efforts of investigating the issue at hand. The May 7 senate judiciary committee was held to address the problem by examining the aspect of intellectual property and the prices of prescription drugs. While the parties are not aligned on the proposals of drug pricing reforms, efforts to increase competition have attracted bipartisan support.
The meeting focuses on investigating the role of intellectual property (IP) protections on competition and subsequently, the prices of prescription drugs. The conference intended to identify the right balance between protecting IP and promoting competition in efforts of not only lowering the costs for prescription drugs but also encouraging innovation among drugmakers (Bose, 2017) . It is vital to acknowledge while the reduction in prices of prescription drugs is essential in managing the increasing cost of healthcare in the USA, too much focus on reducing rates might discourage innovation as such counterintuitive in efforts of facilitating better healthcare. Therefore, any solution to increasing competition should take into account the extensive control on prices of prescription drugs adversely affects productivity among the drug developers.
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References
Bose, S. (2017, August 29). The high cost of prescription drugs in the United States. Retrieved September 3, 2019, from HuffPost: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-high-cost-of-prescription-drugs-in-the-united-states_b_59a606aae4b0d81379a81c1f
CNBC Television. (2019, May 7). Senate judiciary committee holds a hearing on prescription drug prices- May 7, 2019 . Retrieved September 3, 2019, from CNBC Television-You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pHAyq3Vvs
Kesselheim, A. S., Avorn, J., & Sarpatwari, A. (2016). The high cost of prescription drugs in the United States: Origins and prospects for reform. Clinical Review and Education , 858-872.