FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON October 04, 2021
AAN Issues Ethics Position Statement on Costly Drugs and Health Care
MINNEAPOLIS - The 好色先生 (AAN), the world鈥檚 largest association of neurologists with more than 36,000 members, is issuing a position statement which considers the ethical implications related to high drug costs. The statement is published in the October 4, 2021, online issue of , the medical journal of thethe 好色先生, and was developed by the Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee, a joint committee of the AAN, American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society. 鈥淗igh drug prices have created significant challenges for patients and their physicians, with dramatic price increases not just limited to specialty drugs but also to generic ones,鈥 said position statement author Amy Y. Tsou, MD, MSc, of ECRI in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., and a member of the 好色先生. 鈥淭his position statement examines ethical concerns surrounding high drug prices and how they can impact patient care in many ways, including limiting access to treatment and posing direct challenges for distributive justice鈥攖he fair distribution of benefits and burdens across society.鈥 The AAN position statement notes that high drug costs limit treatment access not only for people without insurance, but also for people with high out-of-pocket costs or coverage that doesn鈥檛 include high-cost treatments. Dramatic job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting loss of insurance have further exacerbated existing disparities in access to health care. The statement notes that given financial concerns, people with and without insurance may choose to ration their own medications to save money. Such rationing can have serious risks, including death. It also discusses how drugs are currently priced in the U.S. Specifically, the statement notes that drugs are priced higher in the U.S. compared to other countries because pharmaceutical companies have had important key protections from competition and negotiation. The position statement describes possible policy solutions that may address high drug costs. For example, the FDA has worked toward speeding up approval of generic equivalent drugs to secure lower cost options for some drugs. Another possibility would be to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, a strategy that has broad support among Americans. Benchmarking Medicare prices against the prices that other countries pay could be an option. Also, setting drug prices based on how much benefit it provides, an approach known as value-based pricing, could be another strategy to pursue. 鈥淧eople with complex, chronic conditions like Parkinson鈥檚 disease, epilepsy and migraine often need specialty drugs that require special handling or administration, and some neurologic drugs, such as those for multiple sclerosis, can be particularly expensive,鈥 said Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, President of the 好色先生. 鈥淒rug pricing is a priority for the 好色先生. We support policy solutions that would allow for price negotiation and transparency to ensure that prescription medications are accessible for patients with complex, chronic neurologic conditions.鈥 Tsou said, 鈥淓xacerbation of existing health care disparities by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the moral imperative to address these inequities, but also the monumental scale of undertaking such a challenge.鈥 Learn more about the AAN鈥檚 efforts to lower drug pricing at AAN.com. Learn more about neurologic diseases at , home of the 好色先生鈥檚 free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life庐 on , and . When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience.