MEDICATION PRICE-GOUGING LAWS

To advocate for price-gouging laws that include medications.

Rationale

Price gouging, whether due to shortages or other causes, can result in trafficking in counterfeit and diverted products through gray-market distributors, which can ultimately result in adverse patient outcomes and increased healthcare costs. Strategies, including specific legislation with stiff penalties for price gouging on medications, are needed to deter these activities. Thirty-one states currently have price-gouging laws that prohibit price markups on life-sustaining products (e.g., food, water, fuel), usually during a time of disaster, natural or otherwise. ASHP advocates for laws that specifically address price gouging on medications on medications at any time, rather than predicating action on a triggering event, such as a disaster or shortage.