Prescription Drug Prices in the United States Are 2.56 Times Those in Other Countries | RAND

Prescription Drug Prices in the United States Are 2.56 Times Those in Other Countries | RAND Comment by Don McCanne This current RAND study confirms that U.S. drug prices were 256 percent of drug prices in other countries, while brand name originator drugs were 344 percent of prices in other countries. Although these brand drugs represented 82 percent of U.S. prescription drug spending, they accounted for only 11 percent of U.S. prescription drug volume. High prices indeed. The one positive note is that 84 percent of U.S. prescription drug volume is for unbranded generics, but it represented only 12 percent of prescription drug spending at manufacturer prices. However the large volume of low cost generics does not make up for the exorbitant prices of the brand name originator drugs. We are continuing to spend way too much on brand name drugs. Think of all of the television ads that you see for these expensive drugs. Although the authors recommend further analyses of these relationships, it really is time to switch to government administered pricing which we could easily do by enacting and implementing a well designed, single payer, improved Medicare for All. Decades of relying on markets has just not been effective.