Jerry Knirk: Addressing high cost of pharmaceuticals

I have revised my health-care reform forum and will be presenting it on Monday, Jan. 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the Conway Public Library and again on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 2 p.m. at Runnells Hall in Chocorua. Pharmaceutical costs will be one of many topics to be covered.

Pharmaceuticals are a significant health-care cost driver, accounting for 15 percent of our health-care expenditures. The United States has the highest per-capita retail prescription spending in the world, and costs are rising far more rapidly than those of other developed countries. It is troubling to see enormous profits in the pharmaceutical industry at the same time that we see patients going without drugs because they cannot afford them. There is a conflict between the public’s need for affordable drugs and the pharmaceutical industry’s need for profits.