US to mandate upfront drug pricing on TV ads
The US is accelerating efforts to rein in powerful pharmaceutical companies with moves to mandate that all drug advertisements on TV publish the list price as early as this summer.
US to mandate upfront drug pricing on TV ads as early as this summer
The new transparency regulation will cover all drugs valued at $35 or more for a month’s supply, ending the current system in which companies are required by law to state any possible side effects but not to communicate pricing.
In a statement confirming the crackdown US health and human services secretary, Alex Azar said: “Requiring the inclusion of drugs' list prices in TV ads is the single most significant step any administration has taken toward a simple commitment: American patients deserve to know the prices of the healthcare they receive.”
The Trump administration has been moved to act by rising public discontent at the high price of many medicines, a shift which has already prompted Johnson & Johnson to voluntarily divulge the pricing of its prescription medicines including both the list price and the likely out-of-pocket costs borne by customers.
America’s largest pharmaceutical providers have been resistant to change, choosing instead to invest heavily in positive advertising campaigns to improve their public image.