Drug Industry Will Use Ads to Point Consumers to Price Information

WASHINGTON – Under pressure from the White House, the drug industry announced on Monday that television advertisements for prescription drugs would soon be available to view websites where they can find information on the list of medicines and estimates of the typical out-of-pocket costs. for patients.

But President Trump has suggested.

To require disclosure in the marketplace would be "very confusing and misleading, lack appropriate context and is not what patients want or need," Stephen J. Ubl, the president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in the advertisement the industry's voluntary action on Monday.

It is unclear how useful the information will be to consumers. Each company will disclose the prices of its advertised products on its own website.

The list price is defined by a drug manufacturer, before discounts and rebates to middlemen and financial assistance to patients.

Holly Campbell, a spokesperson for the trade association, known as PhRMA, said, "A given product of a dosage of a drug or a drug. . "

It may be difficult for patients to compare the prices of similar drugs.

Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, said the industry's initiative was "a small step in the right direction."

But, Mr. Azar said: "Our vision for a new, more transparent drug-pricing system does not rely on voluntary action. The drug industry is resting on its price, including the sky-high list prices that many patients pay. "

Mr. Azar was planning to give a more detailed response in a speech later on Monday.

James C. Stansel, the general counsel for PhRMA, said that any effort by the government to force drugmakers to disclose prices in their ads would be subject to legal challenge. "If the government is compelling companies to speak, that violates the First Amendment," Mr. Stansel said.

It is not unusual for drugs now to cost $ 50,000 or $ 100,000 a year. Mr. Azar said Mr. Trump was determined to bring about "price transparency" to the market in an effort to stimulate competition and overturn the current convoluted, opaque system.

Drug company executives and some consumer advocates say that, with more information, they could be used.

Moreover, the price that patients pay depends on many factors: Do they have insurance? Have they put the deductible? Is the drug on the insurer's list of preferred medicines?

The 33 member companies in PHRMA voluntarily endorsed a statement of principle stating, "All direct-to-consumer television advertising that identifies a medicine by name should include direction to where patients can find information about the cost of medicine, such as a company. -developed website, including the list price and average, estimated or typical out-of-pocket cost, or other context about the potential cost of medicine. "

The new policy takes effect on April 15, but some companies may include information in the ads before then.

The industry's new price-disclosure policy applies to television advertising, not to print ads that appear in newspapers and magazines, in airports and train stations, and in buses and subway cars.

At a political rally in Erie, Pa., Last week, Mr. Trump, who has been the president of the United States.

"Did you see when Pfizer and Novartis and other drug companies raised their prices very, very substantially?" Mr. Trump said. "And I did not like it. And I called them. I said, you can not do that. "

And he said, "When I get to know them, I can say that they can do it right now."

Several companies, including Pfizer and Novartis, have said they have been deferred to some extent until the end of this year.