Study looks at policy options to contain high prescription drug costs

According to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the most realistic short-term strategies to address high U.S. prescription drug prices include enforcing more stringent requirements for the award and extension of exclusivity rights; enhancing competition by ensuring timely generic drug availability; providing greater opportunities for meaningful price negotiation by governmental payers; generating more evidence about comparative cost-effectiveness of therapeutic alternatives; and more effectively educating patients, prescribers, payers and policy makers about these choices. The recommendations are based on a review of the medical and health policy literature on the issue since 2005. “There is little evidence that such policies would hamper innovation, and they could even drive the development of more valuable new therapies rather than rewarding the persistence of older ones,” the authors said.