PROTECTING INNOVATION

Some policymakers have turned to price controls – either direct controls or importing the price controls of other countries into the United States through importation of prescription drugs – as a “solution” to what they perceive as high drug costs.  This approach is seen by some as a method to employ the powers of government to control prescription drug prices. Price controls on products or services have historically been based on the same good intentions, but with bad results: initially lower prices followed by shortages, lower quality, less innovation and competition, and even higher prices in some cases. Further, importing prescription drugs from other countries opens US citizens to the risk of counterfeit, adulterated, subpotent, or even toxic drugs.  Prescription drug and medical device companies invest substantial resources into researching, developing, and testing new drugs and devices. On average, it takes more than 12 years to bring a medication from concept in the laboratory through preclinical animal studies to the final stage of clinical trials on human patients.  Proposals for government-imposed price controls stifle innovation, slow development of cutting-edge treatments, and have grave implications for our nation's health system.