August 5, 2019 – Drug Board

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Anchor lead: Should we be concerned about who’s on a board to examine drug prices? Elizabeth Tracey reports

The state of Maryland has passed a law to form a board to scrutinize pharmaceutical prices and investigate price hikes. Some have criticized this by pointing out that lawmakers aren’t the best experts to take on this task. Jeremy Greene, a physician and drug pricing activist at Johns Hopkins, explains.

Greene: I think most of the people who put forward this legislation would argue that the best possible option would be for the federal government to take strong action in this arena. In the absence of strong federal action to rein in the soaring cost of prescription drug prices the state of Maryland has said we are acting within our proper domains to take action. What the state is appointing is a board that’s a set of experts that are designated entirely by the governor of the state of Maryland.  :31

Greene says this action may prompt other states to follow suit to help rein in drug prices. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.