President Trump re-commits to slashing drug prices in State of the Union address

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump including some positive comments on the need for new medicines, and the work of the Food and Drug Administration, but also re-committed to lowering drug prices, though not everyone finds this convincing.

He stated: “One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries, these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States. And it’s very, very unfair. That is why I have directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of my top priorities for the year. And prices will come down substantially. Watch.”

That might sound like a declaration of war on pharma. It’s not. Unless and until Trump comes out with real proposals with a shot of passing Congress that can reduce drug prices, it’s just more kayfabe, a fake attack on an industry that he has declined to confront in any real way, according to an analysis of the speech by Vox Media.