Photo and story by Travis Cameron / Contributing Writer
Former Tennessee Governor and Senate hopeful Phil Bredesen paid a visit to Beckman’s Prescription Shop in Murfreesboro on Wednesday to discuss his plan for affordable prescription drugs with shop owners and customers inside the store.
Bredesen said pharmaceutical companies charge exorbitant prices in the United States and that his framework for reform is straightforward, actionable and doesn’t “nibble around the edges.”
He explained that under the current system, drug companies charge one price for a drug in other countries and another price in America. The vast majority of the time, the American price is significantly higher than the foreign price, often two or three times as much.
Bredesen said this is unfair to American consumers and proposed a “Most Favored Nations Clause.” This type of clause – that mandates that a seller must give the same price to all buyers – is commonly used in businesses to ensure that a party gets the best deal possible.
In Bredesen’s plan, this means that drug companies would have to charge the same prices for drugs internationally. Bredesen gave an example.
“If you sell it to Germany for $25, sell it to us for $25,” Bredesen said.
The purpose of his plan is to create an equal playing field for all purchasers of prescription drugs.
A big argument for the clause is that Americans are footing the bill for drug research and development. Bredesen said all buyers should have to pay for drug development costs. Something like Peptides wouldn’t be allowed to be administered without them being tested in a proper lab, especially as this should only be handled by professionals. If this aspect has taken your interest, checking out companies like enhancedpeptides could be quite useful in understanding this further.
For any drugs to be entered into the public market, they would’ve already gone through extensive testing and research to ensure they are safe. Drug development can be expensive, but it’s essential that the drugs are safe for humans. Often, drug developers will choose to work with a top clinical research organization to ensure that the drugs are correctly produced. Using organizations is often a popular option due to their rich clinical development knowledge and experience. This can give your drug a reputable backing too. However, due to all of the essential testing, it can be difficult to keep the costs of drug development down.
Bredesen says that “the plan will face opposition from all sides, especially lobbying from large pharmaceutical companies that want to keep their profit margins high. There is little incentive for these companies to lower their prices.”
However, Bredesen appeared optimistic, calling the Most Favored Nations Clause easy to understand. He championed the idea as one that everyone can get behind, regardless of political affiliation.
Bredesen said that the idea is straightforward: make prescription drugs affordable for Americans, and share the research and development costs fairly. He also said that his overall goal is to improve life for average Americans by saving them money and increasing access to badly needed medicines.
To contact News Editor Caleb Revill, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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