High drug prices endanger lives

Prescription drug prices are unaffordable for too many people in Colorado. Our elected leaders have an opportunity and a responsibility to reduce the high costs of medications vital to keeping us safe and healthy and save lives.

As a physician, I see firsthand how expensive prescription drugs harm and even kill people. Not long ago, a transplant patient experienced a one-month gap in coverage as he transitioned from Medicare to private insurance that came with a job he chose to take despite ongoing qualification for disability.

To prevent his body from rejecting his donated organ, the patient relied on drugs that cost thousands of dollars a month. The patient attempted to take one month of medication to spread it over two months. It hadn’t even been a year since his transplant and without adequate medications, his body ultimately rejected the donated organ. He was once again hospitalized and eventually died. He was a hardworking and ethical man who was punished for attempting to return to the workforce.

Policymakers should help drive down the cost of life-saving medications. With prescription drug costs continuing to increase faster than wages, we must hold drug corporations accountable through transparency, review and more ways to stop price gouging. An independent panel can help rein in high drug costs and help remove barriers to access for Coloradans who struggle to pay for the medications they need. We must act now, especially in the face of a deadly pandemic, to protect every Coloradan.

Jennifer Mallek, Denver