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Friday, Nov. 5, 2021

Do Americans pay more for prescription drugs than other developed nations?

Lisa Freedland, Gigafact
yes

Americans pay significantly more for prescription drugs than similar nations around the world. Advair, for example, is more than twice as expensive in the U.S. compared to Canada and more than three times as expensive compared to the U.K., according to a 2015 Bloomberg analysis.

In 2018, average prescription drug prices were roughly 2.5 times higher in the U.S than in 32 other OECD countries, according to U.S. News and World Report. The gap was especially pronounced for brand-name drugs, which cost 3.4 times more in the U.S. than its OECD counterparts.

The RAND Corporation made similar findings but noted that generic drugs, which make up 12% of drug spending, are slightly cheaper in the U.S.

Consumer advocate Drugwatch cites the ban on price negotiation, the lack of price increase caps, and patents that crowd out generics as some factors influencing the U.S.'s high drug prices.

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