Presidents Update June/July 2019
GENERICS IN THE SPOT LIGHT
The Attorney General of Connecticut filed claims against 20 generic drug manufacturers as well as 15 individuals claiming that they were involved in price fixing, allocating markets, and bid rigging for over 100 generic drugs. The fact that he chose to announce the charges in a planned interview on the 60 Minutes TV show was interesting given the one-sided presentation of the facts as he sees them.
The following morning, the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) presented some facts and figures that were of course omitted from the 60 Minutes “interview”.
According to the AAM website (accessiblemeds.org) while 90% of prescriptions in the US are filled with generics these account for 22% of the total dollars spent. Over the past decade, the US healthcare system has saved over $2 trillion by using generics. In 2018 generics saved the American public almost $300 billion!
And 95% of generic prescriptions are filled for $20 or less. That means that the average daily cost to the consumer is probably less than .50 per day.
We see prices go up and down every day; sometimes the change is significant. This is a highly competitive industry. We’ve seen products like generic Flonase, Abilify, and Viagra drop more than 90% and we see others increase by triple digits or more.
There is nothing illegal or necessarily wrong with these types of price changes, as long as the companies involved are not in collusion with each other. It’s possible that some might have crossed this line but in the 44 State Antitrust Lawsuit, there is what I believe to be a lot of assumptions and things presented out of their original context. It made for some good TV but I’m not certain that much of it will hold up when it eventually gets to court.
It’s that time of year again! Auburn’s Virtual Trade Show is now under way! Every day during June and July we will be featuring one or more of our suppliers who have offered us special deals to pass along. We’ll also be offering swag from things like the great Detroit Popcorn to Webcam Covers, Hand Sanitizer, Mystic Blue Sunglasses, and much more!
Make sure that you check in with your Auburn Account Manager for details and also check our website for the different daily deals!