P4AD Releases New Report on High Drug Prices in Hispanic and Latino Communities
Yesterday, P4AD, in collaboration with We Are Más, and Brown University’s Information Futures Lab released The Price Patients Pay: How Unaffordable Prescription Drugs Shape the Health, Finances, and Daily Lives of Hispanic and Latino Communities, a new report documenting how high prescription drug prices are forcing Hispanic and Latino patients to delay treatment, ration medications, take on debt, and travel abroad to access more affordable medicines. Drawing on five weeks of interviews, surveys, and community discussions — primarily conducted in Spanish — the report examines how unaffordable medicines affect patients’ health, finances, and daily lives and helps ensure the experiences of Hispanic and Latino patients inform the policy debate over how to lower drug prices. The report generated widespread coverage, reaching national and local outlets across the U.S. and Latin America, including Associated Press, Business Insider, USA Today, Infobae, Clarín, Yahoo Noticias, EFE, El Tiempo Latino, Hola News, and others. Read the full report in English and Spanish.
P4AD hosted a press briefing with project partners and a patient participant to discuss the findings and answer questions from reporters.
White House Announces New MFN Deals With Drugmakers
The Trump administration announced voluntary agreements with nine additional drugmakers to provide most-favored-nation (MFN) pricing to state Medicaid programs, bringing the total number of companies with agreements to 26. While the administration has touted the deals as a major step toward aligning U.S. drug prices with those in peer countries, their impact on patients and taxpayers remains unclear. Medicaid already receives steep statutory discounts, states can choose whether to participate, and the terms of the agreements — including the actual prices — remain secret. The deals may also come with a significant benefit for drugmakers: several participating companies have said they expect to be exempt from the administration’s planned mandatory MFN pricing models in Medicare. In other words, manufacturers may be gaining relief from broader Medicare pricing requirements in exchange for offering lower prices in Medicaid, where drugs are already heavily discounted. According to a new analysis this week from a Dutch investment bank, these deals will have “limited” impact on drugmaker profits. Voluntary and confidential agreements are no substitute for robust, transparent and enforceable reforms that lower prices for patients across the system and hold drug companies accountable. — [USA Today, Washington Post, Common Dreams]
New Reporting Highlights Rising Cancer Drug Prices and Weak Industry Accountability
Two major stories this week underscored the consequences of unchecked pharmaceutical industry pricing power. The New York Times examined how annual prices approaching half a million dollars are becoming increasingly common for new cancer drugs, including a newly approved pancreatic cancer treatment priced at around $480,000 per year. Separately, an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) analysis found that nearly $1.7 billion in fines and settlements against cancer drugmakers over 15 years amounted to just a fraction of the companies’ revenues. Together, the reporting illustrates a market in which drugmakers retain enormous power to set and increase prices while penalties intended to deter misconduct can amount to little more than a cost of doing business. The ICIJ analysis cited P4AD data on the rising price of Revlimid, which reached roughly $900 per pill by mid-2024. — [NYT, ICIJ]
ICYMI: A new analysis from the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) found that the ten largest U.S. drug companies spend three times more on profits, advertising, and overhead (53% of revenue) than on research and development (18%). Profits alone account for 25% of revenue — more than R&D — undermining the industry’s longstanding argument that policies to lower U.S. drug prices would threaten investment in innovation.