Capitol Insights: A UC Center Sacramento Panel Discussion Soaring Drug Prices: Consumer and Clinician Perspectives and Policy Options

November 2, 2017
4 - 5:30 PM
1130 K Street, Room LL3, Sacramento, CA

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Drug prices in the United States are twice what they are in the United Kingdom and are much higher than in all other developed countries. In addition, drug prices are rising faster than prices for general consumer products or even other health care products. In this panel, Lisa Gill from Consumer Reports will describe the impact on patients.  Adams Dudley, MD, from UCSF, will describe the consequences of high or expensive drug costs on patients with severe or chronic health conditions.  Finally, Robin Feldman from UC Hastings will outline the role of patent law and market forces in driving prices higher. The panel and the audience will then discuss policy options to address high drug prices.

Lisa Gill, Consumer Reports
Lisa Gill is the deputy editor of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, a program that focuses on using comparative effectiveness, survey and secret shopper data to evaluate common medications' safety, effectiveness, cost, and access. The results inform hundreds of stories and videos across Consumer Reports media platforms. Lisa is also Consumer Reports' primary spokesperson on medication issues with repeat appearances on NBC Evening News, NBC’s TODAY Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz., MSNBC, PBS “Weekend Edition,” NPR’s “Marketplace,” and FOX News.  She is a journalist by training and passionate about consumer safety and consumer protections.  Lisa regularly works with other journalists, consumer advocates, medical professionals and programs to encourage consumers to learn more about their health and medication choices.  

Dr. Adams Dudley, MD, MBA, UC San Francisco 
Headshot of Adams Dudley UCSFR. Adams Dudley, MD, MBA, (@RAdamsDudleyMD) is a Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at UCSF and Director of UCSF’s Center for Healthcare Value. He has spent decades helping consumers, employers, providers, insurers, and government develop strategies to improve the quality and lower the cost of health care. His work has been covered in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, and many other outlets. In 2005, he received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy. He has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Professor Robin Feldman, UC Hastings
Professor Robin Feldman UC HastingsRobin Feldman is the Harry & Lillian Hastings Professor and Director of the Institute for Innovation Law at the University of California Hastings.  Professor Feldman has published dozens of articles in law reviews including at Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, as well as in the American Economic Review and the New England Journal of Medicine.  She has also published three books, DRUG WARS: HOW BIG PHARMA RAISES PRICES AND KEEPS GENERICS OFF THE MARKET (Cambridge), RETHINKING PATENT LAW (Harvard), and THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN LAW (Oxford). Professor Feldman’s empirical work has been cited by the White House, as well as in reports from the GAO, the Congressional Research Service, and other federal agencies. She has appeared frequently before committees of the US House and Senate, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the Patent & Trademark Office, the National Academy of Sciences and various committees of the California legislature.