We Shall Dance, Unless You Choose Not To

Ideally, a trip to the pharmacist cures any feelings of nausea, but for many Americans just thinking about that trip makes their stomach churn. This is because of the outrageous prices most consumers find when they go to the checkout counter. Biologics, an innovative new type of drug engineered from living organisms, cost an average of $45 per day. Luckily, not all types of drugs are this expensive. Pharmaceutical drugs, such as Tylenol, only cost an average of $2 per day. This is largely due to a strong market for generic pharmaceutical drugs which saved Americans “over a trillion dollars in healthcare costs between 2002 and 2011.” Congress set out to improve the generic biologic market in 2009 by passing the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), but consumers have yet to see much benefit. The main reason consumers have not seen a significant price drop is time—the longer the BPCIA has been in effect the more prices will decline because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve more generic biologics. However, courts are beginning to interpret the most important provisions of the BPCIA, and how well the judges do their job will have a huge effect on the healthcare market. If the judges do their job correctly, the BPCIA could save the United States $250