President Trump Issues Executive Orders on Prescription Drug Pricing

August 10, 2020 by Alec Stone MA, MPA, Former ONS Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy

In July 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump issued four executive orders (https://www.whitehouse.gov/search/?s=drug%20price%20executive%20order) (EOs) to provide solutions to the ever-increasing price of prescription medications. One of the top domestic issues in health care is the price of prescription medication (https://voice.ons.org/advocacy/trump-uses-executive-orders-to-lower-drug-pricing), particularly those deemed lifesaving, such as insulin for diabetics and drugs for patients with cancer. 

“The four orders that I’m signing today will completely restructure the prescription drug market, in terms of pricing and everything else, to make these medications affordable and accessible for all Americans,” President Trump said (https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/congress-didnt-act-on-prescription-drug-prices-so-president-trump-did/).

According to the White House:

However, Trump’s EOs were not met with universal acclaim. The U.S. Congress, the pharmaceutical industry (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/27/drugmakers-trump-meeting-canceled-382847), and patient advocacy groups say that they may stifle innovation and limit access.

“The president’s attempt to open our country up to socialized health care sets America, our economic recovery, and scientific progress back at a time when we need them most,” Stephen J. Ubl (https://www.phrma.org/en/Press-Release/PhRMA-Statement-on-Drug-Pricing-Executive-Orders), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America president and chief executive officer, said.

Prescription drug pricing is a bipartisan issue and, with medication prices outpacing the inflationary index, patients are falling into debt to pay for their necessary treatment plans. That lopsided arrangement is often referred to as financial toxicity. Visit ONS Voice’s patient financial advocacy topic page (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-financial-advocacy) for more information on supporting and advocating for patients facing financial toxicity.


Copyright © 2020 by the Oncology Nursing Society. User has permission to print one copy for personal or unit-based educational use. Contact pubpermissions@ons.org for quantity reprints or permission to adapt, excerpt, post online, or reuse ONS Voice content for any other purpose.