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Opinion

Valdez: Pharmaceutical price setting makes no sense

Posted

In the past few months, prices of everything from groceries to gas have skyrocketed, making it harder for many people to make ends meet.

And unfortunately, this is something I know far too much about.

Just over a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic forced me to miss weeks of work, put my financial future into doubt and turned my life upside down. All the uncertainty and instability of the pandemic put a lot of financial stress on me and my family.

So, when I heard that President Biden was considering implementing prescription price setting policies to try to combat this rising inflation, I was confused. Pharmaceutical companies helped get us out of the pandemic, why would we want to limit their ability to invest in new research and cures?

The need to get our economy back on track is clear, but these price setting policies just aren’t the answer. They affix targets to the backs of the wrong people, potentially limiting future pharmaceutical innovation while doing little to address the root of inflation. It just doesn’t make sense.

I urge our leaders to find another way forward. We need to make sure that Americans can afford to put food on their tables and fill up their tanks, but limiting the creation of new medications just isn’t the answer.

Thank you.