23 July 2019 - The long-overlooked issue in the USA of leaving drug pricing entirely to market competition, which results in higher drug costs in this country than others where governments directly or indirectly regulate prices, seems to finally be getting the attention it deserves thanks to the proximity of the 2020 US presidential election. 

In July 2019, while drug prices raised again with hikes as much as five-times inflation, the Trump administration declared that they will seek to lower drug costs by negotiating what Medicare pays for certain medicines based, among other potential options, on an international pricing index.

For patients with blood cancers, the estimated total spent in the first year after diagnosis—including out-of-pocket expenses and those covered by insurance—is US$156 845, according to a recent study.

Read The Lancet Haematology Editorial