Rejuvenating American Healthcare

Peter J Pitts
a former FDA Associate Commissioner and member of the United States Senior Executive Service, is President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris School of Medicine

DOI:https://doi.org/10.5912/jcb1018

Abstract:

The debate over overhauling the American healthcare system is stuck on hold and plagued by soundbites. It’s time to insert substance and science into the conversation. If we learn nothing else from the COVID-19 experience, it’s that when the entire healthcare ecosystem works together to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem (in this case broader access to innovative prescription drugs) … we can. Nothing less than the future of American healthcare is at stake. During his March 2022 State of the Union Address, President Biden suggested a policy of price controls through direct Medicare negotiation to lower the costs of prescription drugs. This approach has long been discussed in the abstract. Let’s examine the details and potential consequences of such a proposition more closely.