Price Controls on Medicines are Not the Answer

From Kelsey Zahourek on Friday, December 4, 2009 9:49 AM

Soon, the Senate will vote on an amendment (SA 2793) which would import price controls on prescription medicines into the United States. This amendment to the health reform bill currently being debated in the Senate would endanger every American (especially seniors), cripple research and development on the miracle cures of the future, infringe on the constitutional property protections of U.S. companies, and be a giant leap forward toward socialized medicine. For these reasons, ATR strongly opposes the drug importation amendment S.A. 2793, and urges all Senators to vote against it.

The Dorgan/ Snowe/ McCain amendment would mandate that drugs be filtered into the U.S. medicine supply that do not go through the normal FDA approval process for safety. These potentially-dangerous drugs could come from any one of thirty countries, and originate anywhere in the world. Consumers would not know if they were ingesting a miracle cure or a beaker full of death. The effect and real intent of the amendment is price controls to score political points.

The government telling manufacturers of innovative new medicines how much they can charge is shortsighted. It sucks all future venture capital away from research for the miracle cures of the future, and freezes in time current medical technology. AIDS, Parkinson’s, and other diseases can only be cured tomorrow by investing in research today.

Price controls are one of the hallmarks of socialized medicine. Government-mandated price dictates are bad policy, especially when people’s lives are at stake.

A pdf of the alert can be read here.

Property Rights Alliance's alert can be read here.

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