Cost of 688 Prescription Drugs Increased Since Trump Took Office, Sanders Says

The prices of almost 700 prescription drugs have increased since President Donald Trump took office, according to a report released today by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

Twenty-five drugs have more than doubled in price, according to the report.

“Millions of Americans take one of the 688 drugs that have increased in price since Trump entered office in January of this year,” the report says. “More than one in three of the drugs are indicated for neurological disease, cancer, or cardiovascular disease.”

The report notes that the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act “is a multibillion-dollar giveaway to some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world,” adding that the legislation also “makes the largest federal health care cuts in history.”

“The cuts will make it harder for millions of Americans to afford prescription drugs as people lose coverage and face ballooning premium bills and rising out-of-pocket costs,” the report says.

In July, Trump sent letters to 17 major pharmaceutical companies directing them to lower prescription drug prices “within the next 60 days.” The letters told manufacturers that if they “refuse to step up,” the federal government “will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices,” as per the White House.

Almost 90 companies raised their prices after Trump sent out the letters, including four companies that had received the letters — Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi and Genentech, according to Sanders’ office.

“I agree with President Trump: it is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders said in a statement. “But unlike Trump, I believe we need more than just press releases, polite requests to drug companies and pilot projects. We need real action to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and substantially reduce the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans.”

Since January, Eton Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Galzin, which is used to treat a rare genetic liver disorder, by more than 1,500 percent, from $5,400 to $88,000 a year. The same drug costs $1,400 in the United Kingdom, as per the report. In May, Sanders introduced the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, which would ensure Americans pay no more than people in other major countries for the exact same prescription drug.

Merck increased the price of the cancer medication, Keytruda, to $206,000 per year. Last year, Merck made more than $17 billion in profits and paid executives over $61 million, according to the senator’s office. The same drug costs $81,000 in Germany.

Another pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson, raised the price of the blood thinner Xarelto by 5 percent, bringing the annual cost to $7,200. In Canada, the same drug is sold for just $750. The company made $14.5 billion in profits last year and paid executives $64.5 million, according to the report.

The report warns that the president’s “chaotic across-the-board tariffs will further increase prices,” noting that the president “has already imposed a 15 percent tariff on pharmaceutical products from Europe and Japan, and he has threatened to increase tariffs on pharmaceuticals to up to 250 percent.”

On September 25, Trump announced on Truth Social that starting October 1, the U.S. will impose a 100 percent tariff on “any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America.”

The report concludes that, “If Trump is serious about making real change, he should work with Congress to make sure all Americans pay no more than people in other countries for prescription drugs.”