The Biden administration on Monday, Jan. 25, suspended President Trump‘s (R-Texas) December 2020 executive order to lower the prices of drugs such as adrenal and insulin, citing a review of the previous administration’s pharmaceutical policy.
Trump signed the Executive Order on Access to Life-Saving Affordable Medicines in December 2020, ordering price reductions for life-saving drugs such as adrenal and insulin. The order took effect on Jan. 22, 2021, but the Biden Administration‘s Department of health announced a 60-day delay on Jan. 25, citing a review of the Trump Administration‘s drug regulations.
In a statement, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said that according to the Biden administration’s memo, any regulations published by the Trump administration through the Federal Register and any regulations that have been issued but not yet implemented will be delayed for 60 days to allow the new administration to review those regulations and policies. For the initial 30 days, the Biden administration will open a comment period to review those pending petitions against these regulations.
Trump signed four consecutive executive orders last year requiring the Department of Health (HHS) to lower the price of U.S. prescription drugs under the most-favored-nation provision. In that executive order last September, Trump wrote, “It is unacceptable that Americans must pay more for the same drug.” The order requires the secretary of the Department of Health to “take immediate and appropriate steps to implement the Administration’s rulemaking (drug price reduction) program” to implement a “most favored nation” policy in the United States.
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