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Max Nisen

Trump's 'Sweeping' Drug-Price Plan Comes Up Short

Rhetoric aside, it doesn't do a lot to change a flawed system.

Sweeping? Not so much — Sweeping? Not so much
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

By

May 11, 2018, 8:07 PM UTC

Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric on drug pricing had Novartis AG so shaken that it paid $1.2 million to his lawyer Michael Cohen — better known for paying off porn stars than health-care expertise — in the hopes that he could provide access to the president.

Novartis need not have been so worried. Trump’s much-touted drug crusade — detailed in a Friday speech and proposal — won’t do much to change the status quo.