Author: Sally Pipes

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October 19, 2026 Industry Trends

Ensuring patient safety is one of the most important responsibilities of the FDA. Before Americans inject a drug into their bodies, they deserve evidence that it works, an understanding of its risks, and confidence that what’s printed on the vial is actually what’s inside.     The peptide market has raced far ahead of both the science and the safeguards meant to protect patients. Federal regulators need to take the explosion of unapproved injectable peptides far more seriously — and target the sellers and...

October 19, 2026 Price and Costs

Congress should therefore require standardized reporting on 340B revenues and how hospitals use them. Clearer eligibility standards and meaningful charity-care requirements for hospital-affiliated outpatient facilities would help ensure the program serves patients rather than simply enriching providers.   Congress established 340B in 1992 to help safety-net hospitals and clinics stretch their resources. The program requires drug manufacturers to sell outpatient medicines at substantial discounts to eligible facilities, which can bill insurers at higher rates and retain the difference. Participating institutions are expected to...

May 22, 2026 Innovation

For progressives, the answer to every healthcare problem is invariably the same: more government. First came Obamacare. Now, some on the Left are trying to take the next step toward socialized medicine — “free” primary care for all. A new report from the Searchlight Institute, authored by several architects of the Affordable Care Act, urges Democratic policymakers to guarantee primary care with no out-of-pocket costs at the point of service. It sounds compassionate. But making something “free” does not magically create more...

May 21, 2026 Policy Proposals, Price and Costs

If a charity organization collected billions of dollars with little evidence that needy people benefited, regulators and the public would quickly demand answers. Yet many large hospital systems participating in the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program are quietly doing just that—extracting billions in drug discounts with scarce oversight and no obligation to prove vulnerable patients benefit.   ...

December 31, 2025 Blog, Price and Costs

Recently, PRI President, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes was in Fort Worth, TX at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2025 States and Nation Policy Summit for a discussion about the push for drug price controls and themes of her recent book The World’s Medicine Chest (Encounter Books).  The title of her talk was, “Balancing Access, Affordability and Innovation: The Hidden Costs of Drug Price Controls.”  This week, we present the latest post in...

December 24, 2025 Blog, Price and Costs

Recently, PRI President, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes was in Fort Worth, TX at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2025 States and Nation Policy Summit for a discussion about the push for drug price controls and themes of her recent book The World’s Medicine Chest (Encounter Books).  The title of her talk was, “Balancing Access, Affordability and Innovation: The Hidden Costs of Drug Price Controls.”  This week, we present the latest post in...

December 22, 2025 Briefs, Studies

SACRAMENTO. (December 22, 2025) — The free-market Pacific Research Institute today released an issue brief finding that the Trump administration's proposed 50% tax on patent revenue from inventions created using federal grants would disincentivize universities from expending the time, money, and effort to engage in federally-funded research. "Universities respond to incentives just like private companies do," said Sally C. Pipes, the author of the issue brief and PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy. "If Washington...

December 17, 2025 Blog, Price and Costs

Recently, PRI President, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes was in Fort Worth, TX at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2025 States and Nation Policy Summit for a discussion about the push for drug price controls and themes of her recent book The World’s Medicine Chest (Encounter Books).  The title of her talk was, “Balancing Access, Affordability and Innovation: The Hidden Costs of Drug Price Controls.”  This week, we present the latest post in...

December 10, 2025 Blog, Price and Costs

Recently, PRI President, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes was in Fort Worth, TX at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2025 States and Nation Policy Summit for a discussion about the push for drug price controls and themes of her recent book The World’s Medicine Chest (Encounter Books). The title of her talk was, “Balancing Access, Affordability and Innovation: The Hidden Costs of Drug Price Controls.” This week, we begin a series...

May 27, 2025 Price and Costs

A recent executive order from the Trump administration directs the government to implement policies that will lead to U.S. drug prices being pegged to the lower drug prices available in other developed countries. It's hard to imagine a more destructive plan. Importing foreign price controls on prescription drugs would reduce access to existing treatments for everything from rare diseases to cancer. To understand why, consider two recent pieces by Michael Baker for the American Action Forum's "Reality Check-Up: The Truth About...

May 20, 2025 Blog, Price and Costs

President Trump and former President Biden don't agree on much. But they appear to have found common cause in calling for government price controls on prescription drugs. Patients will pay dearly, as Michael Baker and Douglas Holtz-Eakin explain in two recent pieces for the American Action Forum's "Reality Check-Up: The Truth About Single-Payer Systems. Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in 2022. It directs the feds to "negotiate" prices for a steadily increasing number of prescription drugs through Medicare. But...

May 7, 2025 Innovation, Issues, Price and Costs

Read comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce by Sally C. Pipes, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy, arguing against the imposition of tariffs on pharmaceuticals as part of the Department's examination of pharmaceutical imports and their relevance to U.S. national security interests. Click here to download a copy of Pipes' comments Thank you for inviting public input on the Department's Section 232 examination of pharmaceutical imports and their relevance to U.S. national security interests. As...

April 24, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

In an interview this month, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., appeared open to the idea of Medicare covering drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for beneficiaries with obesity. "Ideally, over the long term, we’d like to see . . . those drugs available for people after they try other interventions," he said. Delaying coverage of these breakthrough weight-loss medications is not the right approach. Read the entire op-ed here....

April 22, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

More than 4 in 5 Americans blame the pharmaceutical industry’s profits for the high prices of prescription drugs. It’s little wonder, then, that roughly the same share supports placing price controls on prescription drugs through Medicare. The logic is straight out of Robin Hood. Our leaders should take from the “rich” drug companies and give to the “poor” patients. Read the op-ed here....

April 2, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

A new paper by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, has revived the debate over global drug pricing. The paper points out that patients in the United States tend to pay considerably more for brand-name prescription drugs than those in most other wealthy nations. The think tank argues that the Trump administration should find ways to force other countries to pay more for drugs — and thus pick up a more equitable...

March 31, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

The U.S. Senate last week confirmed former Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration. During his confirmation hearing, Makary said his goals for the agency were "more cures and meaningful treatments for Americans." Throughout the hearing, he offered insight on how he would achieve those goals, including leveraging artificial intelligence and making other regulatory changes to streamline the drug review process. That's great news for patients. Read the entire op-ed here....

January 29, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

On this Wednesday and Thursday, two powerful Senate committees will hold confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr. is no stranger to controversy. But his most radical policy position may be one that relatively few people are talking about. Politico recently reported that RFK Jr. has "expressed openness" to seizing drug companies' patents and relicensing them to generic manufacturers—a move that would effectively implement roundabout price controls on...

January 27, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

Just three days before President Biden left office, his appointees tried to tie incoming Trump staffers' hands on a health policy decision that affects millions of Americans and tens of billions in federal spending. On January 17, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a new list of 15 drugs under Medicare Part D that will be subjected to price controls under the Inflation Reduction Act on January 1, 2027. The list was announced this month despite the IRA not...

January 24, 2025 Issues, Price and Costs

California State Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, recently introduced a bill aimed at reining in pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the middlemen largely responsible for the dysfunction plaguing our nation’s prescription drug market. Wiener’s effort should attract the support of lawmakers on both the left and right. By cracking down on the activities of PBMs, they can deliver real savings for patients at the pharmacy counter. Read the op-ed here....

January 6, 2025 Price and Costs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a rule expanding Medicare and Medicaid patients’ access to anti-obesity drugs such as GLP-1s. Congress is also considering such a move. Expanding coverage to these patient groups makes sense. Read the op-ed here....