Pharmaceutical Pricing Around the World

Peter Van Doren

President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order about pharmaceutical prices. My colleague Michael Cannon has already written that the Department of Health and Human Services “does not have the power to ‘impose’ price controls on private pharmaceutical purchases.”

The order also instructed federal agencies to investigate why European countries pay lower prices for drugs. Why do drug prices vary across countries? An article in the Fall 2024 issue of Regulation offers some insight from economists.