Nearly 1 in 3 Americans don’t take their medications because they cannot afford to fill the prescriptions. Drugs companies claim the prices must be high to continue funding the research and development of drugs providing innovative cures and treatments. However, this claim may be overstated.

“Drug companies have exaggerated the threats to innovation,” Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Care Policy Richard Frank says in an opinion piece published in The Hill.

Many drugs new to the market aren’t actually that groundbreaking. Only 8-18% of new drugs introduced between 2005 and 2016 were classified as “novel drugs” – drugs that meet a previously unmet need or significantly advance patient care or public health- by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Only 1/3 of drugs currently under priority review by the FDA meet these standards.

The majority of products released on the drug market have five similar products already being sold. When the drug companies claim lower prices would result in fewer drugs, they are omitting the fact that the elimination of many of these drugs would have little to no impact on the health of Americans.

Through out-of-pocket costs, taxes, and insurance premiums, Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world. Frank urges policy change, claiming that “it is time for the industry to do its part by ceding some revenues, improving its processes and focusing on the drugs that matter to the health of Americans.”