Demonizing Drugmakers? The Political Assault on the Pharmaceutical Industry

Few sectors of the economy have provided more beneficial products to consumers than the pharmaceutical industry. Yet drugmakers are challenged by patients and politicians on many fronts for driving overall drug costs too high. Whether the issue is patent rights, imports of lower‐​priced drugs from other countries, proposed Medicare drug benefits, state‐​mandated rebates for lower‐​income customers, or drug advertising, the common political focus increasingly is to deliver more benefits by forcing down prices. Our panel will examine the evidence behind political charges against drugmakers and explore policy alternatives that will improve access to better medicine today and in the future.