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Yet, according to the Kaiser report, there are also significant

July 23, 2017 by Ella Pickett

Yet, according to the Kaiser report, there are also significant hurdles to developing generic products. Unlike generic drugs, which have to be licensed by the FDA, many generic drugs are FDA-approved and thus, have to be approved by Congress. In fact, the majority of generic-brand drugs are already on the market because Congress and the White House have approved them. And, for that reason, they have limited competition in the US due to a lack of regulatory oversight; it is unlikely that generic products will be approved if Congress does not pass rules to protect the drugmaker's interests.

"It's not only a matter of 'how are we going to do it,' but also a matter of 'how do we do it better,'" says Dr. J. Scott H. Sorenson, a University of Washington professor who studies the FDA. "We just have to figure out how to do it better."

Dr. Sorenson's research focused on generic drugs that are used on a smaller scale in the US, such as antiepileptic drugs and chemotherapy drugs. He says that because some generic drugs are already in the US, he thinks lawmakers should consider making it easier to sell these drugs in the US.

"If you do that, and I mean that in a way that is very much in line with the needs of the drug, then I think it will create competition for the generic and generic drugs," he says.

But Dr. Sorenson does not think generics are going to be the only way to cut prices. "If we have generics that are on the market, I believe we are going to have more competition," he says.

He says that if Congress does not pass rules to protect the drugmaker's interests, generic drugs will likely still be on the market in the US.

It's not just a matter of "how are we going to do it better," but also "how do we do it better."

Dr. Scott Sorenson is a senior editor of the American Journal of Public Health. In his spare time, he writes about how we live, how we interact, how we create, and how we use technology. Follow him on Twitter @ScottSorenson.

If you would like to write to Dr. Scott Sorenson, send an email to [email protected] and then send your submission to [email protected] on May 23, 2017.

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