Alison Costello
The Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Commission will begin researching, considering and establishing more affordable prices for some of the most expensive and essential prescription drugs in 2023. As a physician, I have followed and supported the Board’s activities. We believe that will help patients better access the medicines they need. A bill currently being considered in the Colorado General Assembly threatens to dismantle the board. This would be a huge loss for Colorado patients.
Prescription medications are among the most important tools in a doctor’s toolbox, helping patients manage and treat health conditions and live healthier, longer lives. To date, Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Commission is one of our most important tools to make lifesaving prescription drugs more affordable.
The board, passed by the General Assembly with bipartisan support and signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in 2021, is tasked with reviewing prescription drug costs and setting payment caps for all types of high-cost drugs. . Physicians like me support the board’s review process because patients have a right to access the appropriate medications to treat their illnesses. My patients don’t have to choose between a better treatment for their disease and other everyday necessities.
Also read: Transparency, Accountability, and Patient Voice in Rx Price Lists | Opinion
Just as the Prescription Drug Affordability Commission is gaining momentum, Big Pharma is trying to slow it down by passing Senate Bill 60. The bill would prevent the commission from reviewing drugs for patients with rare diseases. These drugs, called “orphan drugs,” are a cash cow for pharmaceutical companies. The federal government’s orphan drug program provides generous incentives and years of patent protection to drug companies, allowing them to reap huge profits. These companies are working to maintain incentives and protections even if their drugs are approved to treat more common diseases. These companies have also threatened to stop manufacturing or selling these drugs in Colorado if the board lowers the cost of these drugs.
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These despicable intimidation tactics are the same used by drug companies in other states that have passed Prescription Drug Affordability Councils. What the companies don’t mention is that they spend more on advertising than on research and development. They also ignore the obvious fact that rare disease patients must be able to afford their medicines in order to be active in society. Whether a patient’s condition is rare or common, they have the right to access the medicines they need to stay healthy. But right now, too many patients can’t afford their prescriptions.How 1 in 3 people Coloradans are having a hard time affording prescription drugs.
I treat far too many patients who fall into this category. Take for example one of my patients who suffers from psoriatic arthritis. She has struggled to pay for expensive medications that allow her to live without constant joint pain and rashes. Since finding a way to pay for the best drug to treat her symptoms, Stelara (she was one of the drugs chosen for board review), her joint pain has subsided considerably and she uses a wheelchair. I don’t have to do much anymore, and I don’t even have to use a wheelchair anymore. Walk on your own and carry out daily activities. But she was lucky to find a way to afford the medication. I have seen many patients who are not so lucky. They struggle to effectively treat their medical conditions while struggling to pay for rent, food, and transportation. Even though these patients’ care teams know how to best manage their conditions, uncontrollable costs often get in the way. Patients may be forced to prescribe drugs that are known to be less effective or have more side effects simply because they cannot afford more effective drugs. My patients sometimes admit to splitting their pills or simply leaving the pharmacy empty-handed after learning how much the drugs I prescribed would cost them financially.
The problem of rising drug prices is only getting worse. Coloradans already pay, on average, 65% to 85% more for the same drugs than people in other countries. Over the past decade, prescription drug prices have risen 159%, and net prices have risen three times faster than the rate of inflation.
Meanwhile, the 35 largest pharmaceutical companies had gross profits of $8.6 trillion between 2000 and 2018. The average CEO of a top company earned about $16 million in compensation in 2019.
Big Pharma must be held accountable, and that’s what Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Commission is aiming to do. Senate Bill 60 would prevent the board from reviewing hundreds of medicines that Coloradans need, allowing big drug companies to continue charging exorbitant prices for these rare but essential medicines. It will be. On behalf of our patients and all Coloradans who rely on prescription drugs, doctors like me urge the General Assembly to vote against Senate Bill 60.
Dr. Allison Costello is a family physician in Denver and a member of the Colorado chapter of the Healthcare Protection Committee, a national healthcare advocacy group.