Get the FDA Out of the Way, and Drug Prices Will Drop
Much of the $800 million cost of a new drug goes for trials proving its efficacy. If Uncle Sam dropped that requirement, drugmakers would have lots for R&D
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By Gary S. Becker
Congress has been under great pressure from the elderly and other consumer groups to control drug prices, because expenditures on medicines have risen sharply during the past two decades. But price controls would reduce the number of new drugs, since prices are high in part because research and development is so expensive. A much better approach is to eliminate Food & Drug Administration rules that drive up prices and reduce medical innovations.