TL;DR
- Drug prices continue to rise despite Trump deals.
- Senate report reveals price hikes on hundreds of medications.
- Many new drugs launched with exorbitant costs.
- Transparency issues surround drug pricing negotiations.
- American patients still face the highest drug prices.
In a shocking twist that has left many Americans reeling, a new report from Senate Democrats reveals that drug prices have continued to soar, even as President Donald Trump touted his administration’s deals with pharmaceutical companies as a way to lower costs. Spoiler alert: it’s not working.
The report, released by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ahead of a hearing focused on drug prices, paints a grim picture of the current state of healthcare in America. It found that companies involved in pricing deals with Trump have raised the costs of hundreds of medications, launching new ones at an average price of a jaw-dropping $353,000 a year. Yes, you read that right—$353,000!
“American people continue to pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders declared during the hearing. “That was true before President Trump was president. In most cases, it is even more accurate today.”
So, what’s going on here? The report highlights that drugmakers who signed deals with Trump have raked in profits during his second term, with a staggering combined total of $177 billion in 2025, up from $107 billion the year before. Talk about a lucrative business model!
As Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepares to testify on Trump’s budget, including promises to lower prescription drug costs, the findings raise serious questions about whether the administration’s so-called “most favored nation” deals are genuinely benefiting patients. Spoiler: they’re not.
Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, expressed frustration over the lack of transparency surrounding these deals. “It appears that the administration’s efforts to date have mostly served to help drug companies,” she said. And let’s be real—who’s surprised?
White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended the administration, claiming that the report “fixates on prescription drug list prices, which are meaningless because they do not reflect the actual purchase prices that patients pay at the pharmacy counter.” But let’s not kid ourselves; higher list prices mean insurance companies pay more, and that ultimately affects all of us.
The report also points out that while some brand-name list prices have declined for the first time in 2026, this shift is largely due to policies from the Biden administration, including Medicare drug pricing negotiations. So, while Trump’s team is busy patting themselves on the back, it’s clear that real change is coming from elsewhere.
To add insult to injury, the report reveals that companies involved in Trump’s deals have launched new medications, many of them cancer drugs, with price tags that would make anyone’s jaw drop. For instance, Johnson & Johnson’s cancer drug Inlexzo launched at a staggering price of about $1 million. And Novartis? They’ve got a gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy priced at a mind-blowing $2.59 million. Who can afford that?
As the debate over drug prices continues, one thing is clear: the American public is still left holding the bag while pharmaceutical companies laugh all the way to the bank. It’s time for real change in the healthcare system, and we can’t afford to wait any longer. The stakes are too high, and our lives depend on it. Let’s keep the pressure on and demand accountability from those in power!
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