High-cost generic drugs--implications for patients and policymakers

Jonathan D Alpern; William M Stauffer; Aaron S Kesselheim

doi:10.1056/NEJMp1408376

High-cost generic drugs--implications for patients and policymakers

N Engl J Med. 2014 Nov 13;371(20):1859-62. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1408376.

Authors

Jonathan D Alpern¹, William M Stauffer, Aaron S Kesselheim

Affiliation

¹ From the Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (J.D.A., W.M.S.); the Department of Medicine, Regions Hospital, St. Paul, MN (J.D.A., W.M.S.); and the Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (A.S.K.).

PMID: 25390739
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1408376

Abstract

Some older generic drugs have become very expensive, owing to factors including drug shortages, supply disruptions, and consolidations in the generic-drug industry. But generics manufacturers that legally obtain a market monopoly can also unilaterally raise prices.

MeSH terms

Albendazole / economics*
Antiparasitic Agents / economics*
Antitrust Laws*
Drug Costs* / trends
Drug Industry / economics
Drug Industry / legislation & jurisprudence*
Drugs, Generic / economics*
Humans
Medicaid / economics
United States
United States Federal Trade Commission
United States Food and Drug Administration

Substances

Antiparasitic Agents
Drugs, Generic
Albendazole