Drug Pricing Legislation: Fostering Competition is 'the Way to Go'

At the 2018 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition, Christopher Topoleski, who is the Director of Federal Legislative Affairs for ASHP, discussed the ongoing legislative efforts targeting drug prices and what to expect moving forward.

Transcript

"Over the past 3 or 4 years, there's been a series of hearings and a lot of interest, everyone's been interested in it, of the 36 plus bills that are out there right now dealing with drug pricing, they really fall into 3 buckets: one that deals with importation of drugs, one that would allow the HHS to directly negotiate with drug manufacturers on prices, and the final would be some more market-based approaches. Bringing more entrance into the market, more competition. Of those 3, we really think that final one, fostering more competition, is the way to go. It has the most support out there. In fact, ASHP, through the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing, which is a coalition in DC, is endorsing bills like the CREATES Act, which would strike down barriers to entry to increase more competition. We feel that really those kinds of bills are going to be the ones that are going to generate more conversation and the ones that are going to go forward."