Rarely does a single issue ricochet unequivocally across society — impacting everyone regardless of age, gender, or economic status. No matter how healthy or sick you are, skyrocketing prices on prescription drugs should be a grave concern. Drug prices are rising at a fast and furious pace. We don’t know why, and drug companies do not want to tell us.
As the bills add up, physicians, patient and consumer advocates, businesses, cities, counties, labor unions, health care leaders and many more are calling on the California legislature to pass Senate Bill 1010 (Hernandez). This legislation will shed some light on drug pricing and help get us off this unsustainable path. This bill does not impose price controls on prescription drugs.
The need for transparency and solutions is urgent. While transparency is becoming the norm across every other part of the health care system, it seems that pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever they feel like and no one seems to be able to pinpoint why.
Public scrutiny around astronomical drug prices has peaked — ignited by the introduction of an effective new Hepatitis C drug that was shockingly priced at $86,000 for a single course of treatment. But, heightened awareness of the problem has not stopped drug makers from continuing to raise prices on new and old drugs alike.
More and more new drugs are introduced at prices that eclipse $10,000 a month, and the prices of older drugs that have long ago recouped R&D costs climb with no explanation. A common antibiotic, Doxycyline that was FDA approved in 1967, increased from $20 per bottle to $1,850 in just six months — a 9,000 percent increase. There are many similar examples, like the arthritis medication Vimovo whose active ingredient naproxen which was first approved in 1976 that went from $161 to $959 overnight. And many treatments for life-threatening illnesses are priced well into the six-figures.
The pharmaceutical industry has made claims that sharing basic information about drug prices will harm patients. As a physician, I can tell you that a far greater health risk is not getting treatment in the first place because prescription drugs are priced upwards of $100,000.
As these prices spike, the people who pay for them are left in the dark, with no information on what’s behind these soaring prices. The drug industry is one of the only sectors of our health care system without transparency requirements. This environment has allowed drug makers to run roughshod over Californians — leaving the state, taxpayers, employers and patients to pick up the bill and continue grappling with increased medical costs.
SB 1010 can help put the brakes on this unsustainable trend. The bill would require drug companies to inform payers when drug costs increase significantly and provide a reason why. This essential level of transparency will arm purchasers with advance notice, and information needed to fight back against price gouging by negotiating lower prices for patients and consumers.
This is not revolutionary — this is a reasonable, small first step to help manage costs while getting patients the care they need.
That’s why so many organizations support SB 1010 including the AARP, Consumers Union, California Medical Association, Health Access California, SEIU California, California Nurses Association, Small Business Majority, the League of California Cities, California Professional Firefighters, and many more.
There are simply too many Californians on the hook for us to stand idly by as pharmaceutical companies raise prices with little rhyme or reason. Now is the time to advance SB 1010 to bring drug pricing out of the dark.
Sameer V. Awsare, MD, FACP, practices Internal Medicine at The Permanente Medical Group in Campbell and is a former president of the Santa Clara County Medical Association. He wrote this for the Mercury News.
