Posted by Michael Wonder on 21 Apr 2024
The myth of the free market for pharmaceuticals
20 April 2024 - Critics of US policy aiming to reduce spending on prescription drugs claim that the government is wrongfully interfering with a “free” market.
A recent comment from Merck about the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act exemplifies industry complaints: “Congress has long been committed to a free-market approach based on market-driven prices.…Last summer, however, Congress charted a radical new course.” But the modern US pharmaceutical market is not what Adam Smith would have considered “free.”
