Sen. Lisa Murkowski has lengthy been a frontrunner on points regarding well being care affordability and selling extra transparency within the well being care system. As Congress plots out its subsequent steps on well being care reform, there may be one obtrusive subject that deserves consideration – Huge Pharma’s abuse of the patent system – and there’s a legislative resolution that will handle this subject: The Inexpensive Prescriptions for Sufferers Act of 2023. Sen. Murkowski ought to contemplate lending her assist to this resolution.
One of the crucial egregious ways Huge Pharma employs to abuse our patent system is known as “product hopping.” That is when firms make small modifications to a drug, corresponding to its consumption methodology or dosage, after which file new patents to guard these modifications. In the meantime Huge Pharma firms shift sufferers from the older model of the drug onto the newer model, which has new patents. By doing this repeatedly, pharmaceutical companies are capable of create “patent thickets” round their most profitable merchandise. This locks sufferers into paying greater costs for a similar medication whereas stopping them from accessing extra inexpensive alternate options.
The Inexpensive Prescriptions for Sufferers Act of 2023 would crack down on product hopping by enabling the Federal Commerce Fee to go after Huge Pharma companies who attempt to make use of this tactic. The invoice would additionally assist usher in additional generics and biosimilars to market, giving sufferers entry to lower-priced merchandise.
As Congress tries to tug collectively one other legislative bundle on well being care this 12 months, together with the Inexpensive Prescription for Sufferers Act of 2023 wouldn’t simply be good, it might assist decrease prices for Alaskan sufferers who’re nonetheless preventing greater costs for a lot of on a regular basis items.
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