Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Order To Cut Rx Prices Might Have Little Effect On Patients, Pharma
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay. The order calls on the health department, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to broker new price tags for drugs over the next month. If deals are not reached, Kennedy will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties the price the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries. (Seitz and Min Kim, 5/12)
The pharmaceutical industry’s reaction to President Trump’s executive order on drug prices? It could have been worse. Shares of drugmakers surged Monday after Trump signed an executive order designed to lower what Americans pay for prescription drugs that offered pharmaceutical companies room for negotiation. (Hopkins and Loftus, 5/12)
In rolling out his plan to lower prescription drug prices, President Trump could have walked softly and carried a big stick. As pharmaceutical investors see it, he instead stomped loudly and wielded a wet noodle. (Herper, 5/13)
The White House's executive order to lower drug prices is largely an exercise in applying leverage, rather than actual policymaking — and it may not amount to much, experts said. (Reed and Goldman, 5/12)
President Trump’s executive order to lower drug prices through sweeping, cross-agency action left leaders in the pharmaceutical industry scrambling Monday to make sense of what may be ahead — and how to respond. (Payne and Silverman, 5/12)