Senator Tom Coburn on drug pricing and political gridlock
When it comes to hot-button political topics, soaring drug prices are at the top of the list.
Companies from Mylan (MYL) to Valeant (VRX) have come under fire for soaring prices, and Tom Coburn, former Republican Senator from Oklahoma, says more medical innovation is necessary to keep this from happening.
“There are a lot of products that aren’t available to American citizens because of our regulatory environment,” Coburn said. “As a practicing physician for almost 30 years, not having available things that we should have available because we have a complex regulatory environment doesn’t make any sense to me, especially when there’s no risk associated.”
He emphasized that being overly cautious has put the US and consumers at a disadvantage—with the average cost of a new drug today at $1 billion to get through the FDA.
“So you gotta have pretty good pricing or have a whole lot of people that need it of you’re gonna ever recapture your costs and make a profit,” Coburn said. “It’s not about lessening safety standards. It’s about being smart, cogent and competitive on the world market.”
Given that competition does lower prices, Coburn explained that once safety and efficacy can be proven, there should be a “faster and less costly approval mechanism which would also lower the cost.”
Bottleneck in Washington
Lack of progress in tackling rising drug prices is emblematic of the slow pace of progress in DC, Coburn said.
“What we really lack is leadership,” he said. “It’s a problem with leadership in our country at multiple levels in both parties that say, ‘I’d rather have an election win than do what’s good for the country.’ And I think that’s unfortunate for us,” Coburn said.
Coburn, who was floated as an independent presidential candidate, said polarization is disappointing.
“I’m gonna vote for Donald Trump simply because I’m another one of those disaffected Americans that I’m tired of the political class and what they’ve done to me,” he said. “That’s why I got in politics in the first place. That’s why I left the Senate, because it wasn’t fixable there. It is not fixable in the Senate,” Coburn said.
Coburn said he remains pessimistic on the possibility of progress.
“A president isn’t gonna change our country unless we see real visionary leadership that calls us all to a higher purpose,” he said. “That’s what needs to happen.”
