Prescription drug costs in the United States are a hot topic for patients, politicians and everyone in between, but why are the cost of drugs so wide ranging and unpredictable?
AARP dug into the issue of the high cost of prescription drugs, finding multiple reasons prescription drugs prices are becoming too high for so many patients.
One of the main reasons for high drug prices has to do with patents on medicine. A drug company holds a patent on a drug for 20 years, and during that time it is legal to raise the price whenever they want. This is what happened with the Epi Pen situation at Mylan, which garnered a lot of attention. The company raised the price dramatically because it was the only company producing the drug.
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