Commentary: Big Pharma’s stance on drug prices puts America last

Three years ago, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the cost of the lifesaving drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent. Overnight, its price tag skyrocketed from $13.50 a pill to $750.

Bernard

That CEO, Martin Shkreli, is serving a prison term for securities fraud unrelated to Daraprim. But that drug, which costs pennies to make and is used to treat the parasitic infection toxoplasmosis — which is rare in the United States — still retails for more than $750 per pill, Kaiser Health News reported.

In a new GHN Commentary, Jack Bernard and Dr. Doug Skelton tackle the soaring costs of prescription drugs, citing Shkreli and other issues.

People in other countries pay relatively low prices for pharmaceuticals, Bernard and Skelton argue. “In the meantime, many of our citizens cannot afford the medications that they sorely need,” they write. They lay the blame on corporate policies and government inaction.

Skelton

Here’s a link to their Commentary.