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U.S. Government Should Negotiate Drug Prices, Adviser Group Says

  • National Academies releases report with recommendations
  • Government should use buying power to lower costs for Medicare
RF drugs

Photographer: Bill Oxford/Getty Images

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The U.S. government should use its heft to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, according to a group of independent experts who advise the nation on science and medicine.

Congress should authorize the government to use its purchasing power to get better deals on drugs it buys through Medicare, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said in a report Thursday. The group also suggested the U.S. discourage direct-to-consumer ads for prescription medications.