Donald Trump, the former president, has once again plunged into the fray of American politics. In his unique style, Trump has chosen to focus more on contending against his political rivals than indulging in conventional policy debates. Although his official stance on several intricate issues such as healthcare is yet to be fully fleshed out, Trump has made his intent clear by taking on a few significant challenges including drug scarcity, high pricing, and addiction.
Instead of aligning his healthcare strategies with the well-known Project 2025, Trump has independently carved out his plans. These endeavors concentrate on crime, immigration, and an array of other compelling subjects. It’s a bold foray into the political maze as the USA grapples with the Herculean task of dealing with prosperous private pharmaceutical organizations that govern our drug supply, as elucidated by Colleen Grogan from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.
Agenda47 has noted some notable points about Trump’s healthcare strategies. The former president has brought forth the idea of re-implementing his Executive Order 13944, initially stated on August 6, 2020, which is ‘Ensuring Essential Medicines, Medical Countermeasures, and Critical Inputs Are Made in the United States.’ The move intends to bring back pharmaceutical production to American soil, signifying a decisive stand against dependency on foreign producers.
This executive order sees merit in the period we live in today. Originated from the Defense Production Act, the order gives the president the authority to command private industries to manufacture goods needed for national defense. Going back to 2020, the U.S. severely needed this order during the COVID19 situation when gaining access to tests and protective kits was a challenge.
In the present context, crucial drugs including chemotherapy medicines and ADHD medications face a critically challenging shortage. In response to such crisis, measures to bring back more manufacturing jobs to the U.S. are being considered as potential resolutions. Grogan points out that a low-profit margin attached to certain drugs like insulin leads to its shortage. Interestingly, California has resorted to contracting a company to produce its own insulin in a bid to tackle this issue.
President Trump has a clear mandate regarding pharmaceutical companies – they need to cut down on drug prices. On his first day in office, Trump expressed his intention to sign an Executive Order that will bring an end to what he perceives as global exploitation of American consumers’ pockets. In his view, the United States won’t be a victim to unjust pricing practices of Big Pharma anymore.
Unfortunately, Americans have for long been paying high prices for prescription drugs when compared with other nations. A 2022 analysis comparing generic and brand drugs across various countries indicated that U.S. prices were almost three times higher than those in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In 2020, Trump introduced the thought-provoking ‘Most Favored Nation’ system to combat this through international reference pricing for Medicare-covered drugs.
Currently, the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act is in play, allowing a cap on out-of-pocket drug prices and insulin. It also enables the federal government to negotiate with Pharma biggies for Medicare’s most expensive drug prices. This reverses a George W. Bush-era act that previously barred the government from negotiations. Pharma companies have vehemently opposed these negotiations in court.
Trump has also emphasized on eradicating the drug addiction crisis in the country. A few proposed methods include cracking down on cartels, ramping up penalties for drug dealers, holding China accountable for fentanyl export, classifying fentanyl as a controlled substance, and adopting healthcare support for those battling addiction.
Drug addiction and overdose have been escalating issues, with opioid addiction extending to multiple substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine. Law enforcement agencies boosted efforts to hold traffickers responsible in 2017, specifically on the worldwide fentanyl trafficking organization, the Sinaloa Cartel. It’s increasingly evident that addiction isn’t an immediate process but a chronic disease.
Previously in 2017, Trump declared the opioid crisis as a public health emergency and passed the bipartisan Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act. These measures have indicated Trump’s commitment to combat the issue at hand and support those affected.
In the recent situation, Biden increased the accessibility to treatment and provision of Narcan to reverse overdoses. Concurrently, efforts have been made to curb fentanyl trafficking – reclassifying the drug for stiffer penalties, supplying border officials with tools to identify smaller shipments, and establishing a national pill press registry. Though such measures are in place, it is notable that tougher penalties alone may not be effective in deterrents of drug-related crimes.
Trump’s Bold Re-entry into American Politics: Addressing the Health Crisis appeared first on Real News Now.
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