OPINION: New York must bring transparency to Big Pharma

Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal represents the 27th Assembly District in Eastern Queens. Photo via Rosenthal’s Facebook.

By Daniel Rosenthal

Special to the Eagle

The rising cost of healthcare is a major concern for everyday New Yorkers. As a nation we are currently embroiled in a vigorous debate over the future of our healthcare system.  

Every single person residing in New York deserves the ability to live a healthy life with access to some of the best medical facilities in the world. What prevents many people from achieving this vital goal of good health? The cost of prescription drugs. 

Who is shouldering the ever rising costs of exploitative pricing? Predominantly, the eldery and infirm.  We must stand up for them.

Prescription drug prices are growing at a faster rate than any other part of healthcare spending. Currently, they make up nearly 20 percent of all health care costs. According to AARP, nearly 40 percent of older adults nationwide report that they have had to cut back on necessities such as food, electricity or fuel in order to afford their prescription drugs. 

They have resorted to abstaining from filling prescriptions or periodically skipping refills. Some perilously ration drugs in order to keep costs down. This is not just unacceptable, it is embarrassing.

We are failing our parents and grandparents, this is not the life millions of people who worked their whole lives deserve. Our most vulnerable citizens need help and it is time for New York to step up to the plate.

I have worked tirelessly on this issue, as it affects many of my constituents as well as many more statewide. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intergenerational Care, I have introduced two measures aimed at increasing transparency in drug costs and establishing an early warning system to allow consumers to appropriately prepare for impending price increases. 

The first bill (A7922) requires drug manufacturers to report to the state how often the price of prescription drugs have gone up and the rationale for these increases. Pharmaceuticals often point to the high costs of research and development as a direct correlation to the high cost of drugs and the necessity for price increases. 

This is, at best, misleading, and, at worst, a fabrication propagated by drug companies. They are spending nearly 50 percent more on advertising for existing drugs than they are spending on developing new ones. Spending millions on a Super Bowl ad and paying for lavish conferences for doctors in the Bahamas is designed to increase the bottom line for these companies, while the wellbeing of patients falls to the wayside. In forcing the pharmaceutical companies to explain why they feel the need to increase the price of a particular drug, we can begin to reign in the absurdity of how fast these increases are taking place.

The second important bill (A8253) I will be advancing this session requires manufacturers who plan on raising prices over 10 percent to provide at least sixty days notice of intent to the State Drug Utilization Review Board. Failure to report these increases will result in financial penalties to the manufacturer of up to $1,000 per day. Providing notice of a price increase before it takes effect is important to allow consumers, employers, providers, health plans and the state time to prepare and take the necessary steps before the increase is implemented. 

Why is it important that these companies be forced to justify themselves? We have seen countless examples of drug costs skyrocketing year after year with no explanation given. 

One of the most egregious examples over the last decade has been the cost of insulin. A drug that has been in use for close to one hundred years with little to no changes in the original formula should not be subjected to a 200 percent increase in price. This price increase is even more audacious when one recalls that  the inventors of insulin sold the patent to the University of Toronto for the sum of $1. 

They wanted everyone who needed their medication to be able to afford it and the fact that there are people who can not is a dishonor to their memory and work. More recently, the per-pill cost of Doxycycline, a drug commonly used to treat bacterial infections, has gone up 595 percent between 2011 and 2018. These numbers would be laughable if they weren’t so frightening.

Between 2007 and 2015, Mylan raised the cost of an EpiPen — a life-saving medication with no recent major innovations or changes to the drug — by 461 percent, costing consumers approximately $320, on average, per EpiPen. During that period, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch's total compensation had a 671 percent increase to $18 million per year — an increase on the backs of poor wheezing children desperately trying to catch their breath.

We cannot afford to let pharmaceutical manufacturers operate unchecked as they continue to raise the cost of life saving drugs New Yorkers need. 

In his State of the State address, Governor Cuomo announced a package of prescription drug proposals aimed at increasing transparency and attempting to address affordability in prescription drug prices. I am proud to join the Governor’s efforts and advance legislation, designed to help New Yorkers regain control of prescription drug costs and secure much needed transparency into this industry. The health of all New Yorkers hangs in the balance. 

Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal represents the 27th Assembly District covering parts of Eastern Queens. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2017 and is currently the Chair of the Subcommittee on Intergenerational Care.