Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Pharma Folks Are Nervous' As Trump Gears Up For Major Speech On Curbing Drug Prices
The New York Times: As Trump Prepares Plan To Lower Drug Prices, Big Pharma Girds For A Fight
In his State of the Union address in January and again in New Hampshire in March, President Trump made a bold promise: “You’ll be seeing drug prices falling very substantially in the not-too-distant future,” he said, “and it’s going to be beautiful.” Not if the pharmaceutical companies can stop it. Big Pharma is pouring money into a lobbying campaign to thwart any serious efforts to rein in prescription drug prices ahead of a presidential speech this month where Mr. Trump plans to lay out his drug pricing proposals. (Pear, 5/6)
Stat: Trump Often Ad Libs. What Does That Mean For His Drug Pricing Speech?
President Trump is expected to deliver a major address on drug prices this week. And perhaps more than with any other president, Washington is wondering: What will he say? There’s the version of the speech that top health officials have been touting and previewing for the last several weeks — the serious, “comprehensive strategy” that will result in a “profound modernization” of how the federal government pays for at least some drugs, to hear health secretary Alex Azar or FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb tell it. (Mershon and Silverman, 5/7)
The Hill: Five Things To Watch As Trump Takes On Drug Prices
President Trump is slated to give a long-awaited speech laying out proposed actions to lower drug prices. The health-care industry is on edge. It’s unclear what exactly Trump is going to propose, and the president has a well-known propensity to go off script. (Sullivan, 5/6)
