Resident Trump has made lowering prescription drug prices a clear priority, repeatedly arguing that Americans should not be forced to pay more for medicine than patients in other developed countries. Drugmakers have publicly welcomed that message. But their actions tell a more complicated story.
First reported by Reuters this week, pharmaceutical companies are raising list prices on more than 350 drugs for 2026. Many of the increases were small, but others were not, including sharp hikes on certain hospital-administered and specialty medicines that patients and providers rely on every day.
Among the steepest increases were those for Demerol, a painkiller used in obstetrics, whose price rose by 289 percent; Fragmin, an anti-blood clot treatment, whose price rose by 149 percent; Erythrocin, a branded antibiotic, which will cost 80 percent more in 2026; Cyclokapron, a hemophilia drug, which is priced 49 percent higher for 2026; and Epinephrine, which is used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions, and Marcaine, an anesthetic, whose prices increased by 22 percent each.
Oxycontin, the drug at the root of the opioid crisis which continues to be marketed by Purdue Pharma, will also get 9 percent more expensive– proving that a drug that wreaked carnage on much of the nation and especially regions like Appalachia, will continue to make its manufacturer wealthy.
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