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# Trump Takes Aim at Drug Price Hikes
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/trump-takes-aim-at-drug-price-hikes/
- Published: 2018-07-10T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T00:18:03.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5141833

President Trump has his sights on the drug industry after the latest round of price increases on dozens of products. In a 7/9 tweet, the president said: “Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason. They are merely taking advantage of the poor & others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe & elsewhere. We will respond!” In an unusually swift about-face, Pfizer said it would roll back its increases following “an extensive discussion with President Trump,” according to the *Wall Street Journal*.

That one company aside, Trump’s ire may ring hollow as the administration has asserted before that drug pricing is out of control and promised that a fix was imminent -- without evident results. “The secretary of HHS has a shocking amount of power by the stroke of a pen, and we intend to exercise it,” HHS secretary **Alex Azar** told [PBS News Hour 5/14](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/hhs-secretary-azar-trumps-drug-prices-proposal-is-better-than-campaign-pledge?ref=fdaweb.com)**,** addressing the cost of prescription drugs paid by Medicare for senior citizens − an issue FDA commissioner **Scott Gottlieb** has committed the agency to address through drug approval policies and authorities. A former Eli Lilly president, Azar was being questioned by PBS News Hour anchor **Judy Woodruff** about reports that the Trump administration intends to press industry to post prices in its direct-to-consumer advertisements. So far, no policy changes have been effected.

Also in May, the administration released a blueprint for lowering prescription drug prices, which has had little effect in reducing recent price hikes. The [blueprint](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trumps-blueprint-lower-drug-prices/?ref=fdaweb.com) included 50 actions the administration said it was willing to take to lower drug costs to consumers. These included:

- Taking steps to end the gaming of regulatory and patent processes by drug makers to unfairly protect monopolies.
- Advancing biosimilars and generics to boost price competition.
- Streamlining and accelerating the approval process for over-the-counter drugs.
- Speeding access to, and lower the cost of, new drugs by clarifying policies for sharing information between insurers and drug makers.