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30 Annals Health L. & Life Scis. 101 (2021)
The International Price Index's Impact on Revenue in the Pharmaceutical Industry

handle is hein.journals/anohl30 and id is 10 raw text is: The International Price Index's Impact on Revenue in the Pharmaceutical Industry Alexander C. Davis* INTRODUCTION The costs of pharmaceuticals have been steadily increasing in many countries, including those in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a cohort of nations with similarly developed economies as the United States. 1 Since 1998, OECD countries have collectively increased their spending on pharmaceuticals by an average of thirty-two percent, after adjusting for inflation.2 In 2013, pharmaceutical spending across OECD countries reached approximately $800 billion, which accounted for nearly twenty percent of total health spending on average.3 This trend is even more pronounced in the United States, where retail prescription drug spending has increased from $90 per person in 1960 to $1,025 per person in 2017.4 While a significant portion of this increase in spending represents the cost of buying new and innovative products, part of the increase is the result of the incentives on pharmaceutical companies and a balancing act in which individual countries engage.5 * Alex Davis has long been enthralled by public policy. He studied philosophy and economics at Georgia State University and recently graduated from Emory University School of Law where he focused on regulatory issues and corporate transactions. He intends to devote his career to assisting policy makers in crafting regulations that incentivize businesses and protect public interests. 1 Neeraj Sood et al., The Effect of Regulation on Pharmaceutical Revenues: Experience in Nineteen Countries, HEALTH AFF.: WEB EXCLUSIVE (2008), www.healthaffairs.org/doi/ pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.w125; Our Global Reach, OECD, https://www.oecd.org/about/ members-and-partners/ (last visited on Dec. 31, 2020). 2 Sood et al., supra note 1, at w125. 3 Ed Silverman, Soaring Prescription Drug Prices Take Big Bite Out of National Budgets, STAT NEWS (Nov. 4, 2015), https://www.statnews.com/2015/11/04/soaring-prescription- drug-prices-take-big-bite-out-of-national-budgets/. 4 Rabah Kamal et al., What are the Recent and Forecasted Trends in Prescription Drug Spending?, HEALTH SYS. TRACKER (Apr. 14, 2020), www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart- collection/recent-forecasted-trends-prescription-drug-spending/#item-nominal-and-inflation- adjusted-increase-in-rx-spending_2017. s Toon van der Gronde et al., Addressing the Challenge of High-Priced Prescription Drugs in the Era of Precision Medicine, 12 PLOS ONE 1, 22-23 (2017). 101