Opinion: Personalized treatments may be threatened by drug cost-containment proposals
Some proposals to cut the cost of drugs could have unintended consequences for high-value personalized therapies that are reshaping the discovery, development, and delivery of health care.
President Trump has said he plans to issue an executive order to lower what the United States government would pay for drugs to no more than “whatever the lowest nation’s price is.” The proposal is designed to end what he has called “global freeloading,” whereby Americans pay more for drugs than residents of other countries.
The executive order announcement follows an earlier proposal by the Trump administration to decrease the price of physician-administered therapies by tying them to an international price index so their prices will not exceed those charged in other countries.
These proposals, like others that would cut the costs of drugs, are
