United States President Donald Trump stated he would sign an executive order aimed at significantly reducing the prices of prescription drugs and pharmaceutical products

United States President Donald Trump announced via a social media post his intention to sign an executive order to lower the costs of prescription drugs and pharmaceutical products.

Also read: World Asthma Day: LASUTH advocates for increased asthma awareness, affordable inhaler access

“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be reduced, almost immediately, by 30 per cent to 80 per cent,” the president stated. He further suggested that prices would increase in other parts of the world to create equalization and bring fairness to the United States.

The US president indicated that he would sign the executive order, which he described as potentially one of the most consequential in U.S. history, at 9 am Eastern Time (1300 GMT) on Monday.

Earlier in the week, the president had alluded to a significant upcoming announcement, with US media outlets reporting that it would focus on the issue of drug prices.

Currently, the United States lacks a comprehensive central government price regulation for all medicines. The pharmaceutical industry holds significant influence over drug costs, with limited government intervention, often resulting in high prices compared to other nations.

The specifics of how the announced executive order would function were not immediately clear, and opposition from pharmaceutical companies was anticipated.

During his previous term in office, the president had attempted to lower drug prices. The earlier proposal aimed to provide discounts on drugs like insulin and EpiPens for low-income individuals and to utilize lower international prices for some drugs covered under the Medicare program. However, this plan faced legal and political hurdles and was never implemented.

In his recent social media post, the president stated that his new approach would involve “instituting a most favored nation’s policy whereby U.S. will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price in the World.” He also suggested that the Democratic party had opposed efforts to lower drug prices.

Notably, drug regulation was a key issue for the president’s successor, Joe Biden. In 2022, Biden signed a significant legislative package that included provisions authorizing Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain drugs, a measure considered a significant step in addressing the issue of high prescription costs.