President Donald Trump and other administration officials are claiming credit for a recent drop in prescription drug prices, citing deals they’ve struck with drugmakers and the launch of the online direct-to-consumer platform TrumpRx. But experts are skeptical those measures have had much impact on prices overall, and they say other factors likely explain most of the decline.
President Donald Trump has touted more than $500 billion in prescription drug savings over 10 years from his policies. But the savings are largely aspirational, and not based on the more limited actions the administration has taken so far.
The Food and Drug Administration in recent months has approved a small number of drugs quite quickly under a new expedited review program. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has overstated the impact of the program by making misleading comparisons to the pace of drug approvals in the past.
President Donald Trump has said that Americans are now paying or will pay “the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs,” thanks to the administration’s negotiations with pharmaceutical companies. The administration has announced discounted cash prices for a small number of brand-name drugs. There isn’t evidence Trump’s deals so far have led to broad decreases in drug prices, nor is it certain they will in the future.
In signing an executive order aimed at reducing U.S. drug prices, President Donald Trump said some prices would be cut in half or more “almost immediately.” But the order is light on details of how the plan would be implemented.
President Joe Biden punctuated a campaign speech in Philadelphia with the phrase “a promise made and a promise kept,” when chronicling several actions his administration has taken. But in a few cases, he hasn’t kept the promise or he misleadingly described his accomplishments.
In a chaotic debate with plenty of crosstalk, there was also plenty to fact-check.
A Facebook user claims the cost of her insulin dropped 75% thanks to “Trumps Prescription Bill.” There has been no such legislation passed, and actions by the Trump administration aimed at lowering prescription drug costs have yet to take effect.
President Donald Trump accepted his party’s nomination in a speech filled with familiar falsehoods.
President Donald Trump recently signed executive orders that he says will reduce drug prices by 50% “and even greater, in certain instances.” That could happen for some individuals, but it remains to be seen how the orders will be implemented and whether they will result in such large reductions.