BRIEF—The threat of US anti-science price controls returns

In the USA, Democrats have reportedly “finalized” a drug pricing proposal “largely similar to the blueprint that Democrats put forward last year,” reports The Washington Post. The proposal would allow the government to fix the prices of certain drugs, “penalizing companies that raise prescription prices faster than inflation.

Commenting on the development, trade groups the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) noted that in fact, brand-name drug prices continue to fall, pointing out that / BIO experts have explained time and again – and drug prices are seeing the lowest increases for inflation across all health care categories.

The BIO says it supports legislation to reduce patients’ out-of-pocket costs – but  price controls would “disrupt our innovation ecosystem and crowd out the next generation of new therapies that could transform the standard of care for patients and help bring down our nation’s long-term health care costs,”  BIO president and CEO Dr Michelle McMurry-Heath has said.