Drugmakers pledge restraint, but prices will still soar
TRENTON, N.J. — Several big drugmakers are trying to quell the furor over high drug prices by revealing more information about their pricing and even pledging to keep a lid on increases.
No one should expect to be paying less for medicine anytime soon, experts say, though the drugmakers’ response to public pressure may help slow the rise in prices for some drugs.
The latest drugmaker move came Monday, when Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, issued its first public report on price increases for its drugs.
The political and public anger over drug prices has been stirred by a few factors: Sky-high prices for new drugs, enormous increases for many existing drugs, and changes in insurance coverage that make patients pay a bigger portion of the drug bill.