Price controls on prescription medication are ill advised

If you think the presidential campaign season lasts a long time, you have not seen just how long it takes for a new pharmaceutical drug to make its way from concept to the pharmacist's counter. On average, it is a process more than a decade in the making.

In other words, that 'new” drug your doctor just prescribed as an innovative approach to curing disease has probably been working its way through laboratories and trials since before President Barack Obama was even elected to the U.S. Senate.

High standards for safety and efficacy are hallmarks of the pharmaceutical industry. By the time it is ready for prescription use, a drug has been vetted by countless medical professionals who want to see it used capably in the hands of physicians on the front lines of patient care.

Those front lines are where the care really takes place. Patients see their primary-care physicians about three times a year, on average, and most stay with their doctors for many years, creating a strong bond of care.

Knowing these things, why would any reasonable person think a third party should be introduced to second guess the doctor-patient relationship? Surely, after all of the work that goes into establishing trust between physician and patient - and the incredible obstacles that must be overcome to get new medicines into the hands of doctors - no one could really think that an outsider knows best.

Yet that is exactly what politicians are saying when they propose price controls on prescription drugs - or insist on taking away the freedom and self-determination that have come with Medicare Part D.

It is not just a cheap stunt to argue for government price controls on medication; it is a direct assault on the practice of modern medicine.

As people live longer, we are uncovering chronic conditions that simply did not matter a few decades ago. As people travel more, we find ourselves facing complex and sometimes obscure illnesses that require an 'all-of-the-above” approach to treatment. And as the biopharmaceutical industry invests heavily in the research and development that will deliver lifesaving medications years down the road, we are advancing the frontiers of medical knowledge.

But all of this progress can be halted abruptly by bad proposals born of what sound like good intentions. Bringing down the heavy hammer of government price controls on medication, for instance, won't reduce the cost of health care. Medicines only account for about 10 percent of health care spending, meaning that 9 out of every 10 dollars spent on getting better would go entirely untouched.

Price controls are not a solution to health care costs - especially when innovative new treatments often make it possible for patients to avoid other costly spending. Most people would choose a pill over surgery any day, and thanks to the investments being made in research and development, patients and doctors have more of those choices every day.

The miracles of modern biopharmaceutical science come from heavy investment in research, brilliant work by chemists and clinicians, and a large dose of patience with a long development process. If we want more of those miracles, we cannot fall for the false promise of a quick fix from heavy-handed government intrusion.

' Joe Hrdlicka is the Executive Director of the Iowa BioTech Association.