The High Cost of Pharmaceuticals in the United States

Drug prices continue to rise in the US. Many solutions have been proposed but few have been implemented. Drs. Janet Woodcock from the FDA and Aaron Kesselheim, author of The High Cost of Prescription Drugs in the United States from the Harvard Medical School discuss the role of brand name drugs and generics and how they influence the cost of pharmaceuticals. Also see The Cost of US Pharmaceutical Price Reductions: A Financial Simulation Model of R&D Decisions by Thomas A. Abbott and John A. Vernon.