Editorial: Drug Price Negotiation a Worthy Objective
"One word sums up House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plans to push legislation to allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies: Bravo," a San Jose Mercury News editorial states. "Critics argue that if prices drop, drug companies won't be able to continue developing new lifesaving drugs," but "taxpayers fund about 20% ($8.5 billion) of all the research and development of prescription drugs in the United States," the editorial states.
"That investment should be applauded," the editorial states, adding, "But it also means that the pharmaceutical industry should be listening harder when American consumers call for bulk purchasing of prescription drugs that taxpayer money helped develop."
According to the editorial, "Pelosi will have her work cut out for her" in her efforts to pass the legislation because pharmaceutical companies "continue to spend more than $150 million a year on their lobbying efforts" (San Jose Mercury News, 12/15).