NDSU Report Finds Price Controls on Prescription Drugs will Harm North Dakota Consumers

The Greater North Dakota Chamber (GNDC) and the Bioscience Association of North Dakota (BioND) today released a jointly commissioned report from the Challey Institute at North Dakota State University.

According to the white paper, Pharmaceutical Price Controls Destroy Innovation and Harm Patients by Dr. Raymond March, imposing price controls on prescription drugs will decrease drug availability to patients and threaten the future of research and development of life saving medications. March called price controls for drugs a “foolhardy attempt to fix healthcare woes.” Among March’s findings:

• Drug shortages caused by price controls are well documented. Drug availability for North Dakotans will decrease, particularly those in rural areas who are further away from accessing pharmaceuticals;
• Pharmaceutical companies operating in areas with price controls spend less on research and development (R&D) of new treatments—meaning fewer pioneering medical discoveries, cheaper drugs, and lifesaving medication;
• Imposing price controls forces manufacturers, insurers, and PBMs to renegotiate prices, imposing cost-shifting strategies that ultimately fall on the patient;
• Price controls would harm small businesses by increasing their costs to supply health insurance to employees.

“Imposing price controls on prescription drugs would hurt North Dakota citizens and businesses by restricting access to medications and ultimately raising healthcare costs,” said Arik Spencer, CEO and President of the Greater North Dakota Chamber. “This report demonstrates that public policies aimed at imposing mandates to manipulate costs have unintended consequences.”

“Bringing a new treatment to market takes years of research and billions of dollars,” said Richard Glynn, Chief Executive Officer, of BioND. “Imposing price controls on prescription drugs tells our biopharmaceutical industry that their work is not valued and will result in fewer new, lifesaving treatments.”

Together, GNDC and BioND are urging North Dakota lawmakers to reject price control legislation during the upcoming session.
 

About GNDC: The Greater North Dakota Chamber is the largest statewide business advocacy organization, representing businesses across the state of every size and industry sector. GNDC represents the interests of our members by promoting policies and initiatives in pursuit of making North Dakota’s business climate the best in the nation. 

About BioND: BioND is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of bio-science to commercialize, grow and sustain globally competitive bio-science, companies, creating careers and economic opportunity in North Dakota.