One of the largest health care conglomerates in the world Johnson & Johnson has announced that by next month, all of the television advertisements and commercials of its medicines would also carry the price of the medicines. This also makes J&J the first drug manufacturing company to adhere to the call by United States president Donald Trump on pharma and drug making companies to make their pricing more transparent by including price of the drugs advertised through commercials on television.
J&J has also announced that the price that would be mentioned in the advertisements and commercials would include the list price and the potential out-of-pocket costs for the products that the buyers would have to cough up. The list price is the price of a product before the manufacturer offers or allows any rebates or discounts to insurers or pharmacy benefit managers.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was quick to laud the decision by the drug conglomerate which was announced by the company on its website through a statement. A proposal for bringing down the costs of drugs and medicines was issued by the office of the Health and Human Services Secretary which also included the proposal to make it mandatory for drug makers to disclose the price of drugs in being advertised on TV.
“We commend Johnson & Johnson for recognizing the value of informing consumers about list prices and for doing so voluntarily. We call on other manufacturers to follow their lead,” Azar said in a statement.
A central issue of the 2016 presidential campaign for Trump was the pledge to lower the cost of prescription drugs for consumers in the US. This pledge was against stressed on by Trump during his recent State of the Union Address earlier this week.
J&J said that the first television commercial to include pricing information would be J&J’s most widely prescribed medicine - the blood thinner Xarelto. This treatment which is used to stop clotting of blood costs patients between $450 and $540 per month.
Since the taking over of the House of Representatives in January, Democrats have been very vocal about drug pricing in the US and this has also induced the US Congress to become stricter with the pricing strategy of drugs. Additionally, there is also increased pressure on the same issue by the US Senate which is dominated by the Republicans.
Executives from seven pharmaceutical companies, including J&J, have been invited to present their side of a case as a part of a testimony at a Feb. 26 hearing on rising drug prices, by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, ranking member of the committee.
(Source:www.bostonglobe.com)
J&J has also announced that the price that would be mentioned in the advertisements and commercials would include the list price and the potential out-of-pocket costs for the products that the buyers would have to cough up. The list price is the price of a product before the manufacturer offers or allows any rebates or discounts to insurers or pharmacy benefit managers.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was quick to laud the decision by the drug conglomerate which was announced by the company on its website through a statement. A proposal for bringing down the costs of drugs and medicines was issued by the office of the Health and Human Services Secretary which also included the proposal to make it mandatory for drug makers to disclose the price of drugs in being advertised on TV.
“We commend Johnson & Johnson for recognizing the value of informing consumers about list prices and for doing so voluntarily. We call on other manufacturers to follow their lead,” Azar said in a statement.
A central issue of the 2016 presidential campaign for Trump was the pledge to lower the cost of prescription drugs for consumers in the US. This pledge was against stressed on by Trump during his recent State of the Union Address earlier this week.
J&J said that the first television commercial to include pricing information would be J&J’s most widely prescribed medicine - the blood thinner Xarelto. This treatment which is used to stop clotting of blood costs patients between $450 and $540 per month.
Since the taking over of the House of Representatives in January, Democrats have been very vocal about drug pricing in the US and this has also induced the US Congress to become stricter with the pricing strategy of drugs. Additionally, there is also increased pressure on the same issue by the US Senate which is dominated by the Republicans.
Executives from seven pharmaceutical companies, including J&J, have been invited to present their side of a case as a part of a testimony at a Feb. 26 hearing on rising drug prices, by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, ranking member of the committee.
(Source:www.bostonglobe.com)
