The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, which gave rise to the modern generic drug market, was one of the most significant cost-reducing policy innovations of the last 40 years. In 2021 alone, the use of generic and biosimilar drugs saved $373 billion in health expenditures. More than 90% of prescriptions filled that year were for generics or biosimilars, up from just over 18% the year that Hatch-Waxman was passed.
Today, however, generic drugs seem to be a victim of their success. Important categories of drugs — from antibiotics to chemotherapies to saline solution — experience persistent shortages and inadequate quality. Why? Prices have dropped so low that manufacturers don’t have the resources to produce adequate quantities of drugs or ensure compliance with quality standards. Such shortages are becoming a feature of the generic pharmaceutical industry.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: James B. Rebitzer and Robert S. Rebitzer
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.statnews.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.