Black Americans are more likely to feel the effects of rising prescription drug costs

As prescription drug costs proceed to rise, Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to afford their medications. AND recent report findPrice increases disproportionately affect Black Americans.

Patients for Affordable Medicines it tells for Affordable Health Care released a report this month that showed price increases for 1,000 prescription drugs this 12 months. Almost half of the prices were above the inflation level.

A study found that one-third of Americans cannot afford prescription drugs. Black and Latino patients aged 65 and over were most likely to report difficulties, according to the report in paying in your medications.

Enhertu is a drugs used to treat HER2-negative breast cancer, a sort of cancer that mainly occurs in black women. Drug manufacturer raised the price drug eight times since 2019, the latest increase, bringing the cost of the drug to more than $2,800 per thirty days.

Revlimid is used to treat multiple myeloma, which has increased by 7%. According to the report, Black Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease and die from it.

Patients on Affordable Drugs executive director Merith Basey says these price increases hit people of color the hardest.

“Black and Latino families are at higher risk for chronic diseases and certain cancers … that require long-term, very expensive medications,” Basey said NBC News.

“A lot of this also has to do with racial disparities in health care, which have been well documented due to systemic racism,” she said.

Organizations like Patients for Affordable Medicines and Health Care for America Now are pushing for policies that can ease the burden on many Americans. The Inflation Reduction ActThe bill, signed by President Joe Biden, goals to lower prescription drug prices.

Health Care for America Now executive director Margarida Jorge criticized the health care industry for its handling of diseases that disproportionately affect minorities.

“We have known about sickle cell disease for many, many years,” Jorge said NBC News, “but there hasn’t been a lot of attention paid to actually addressing sickle cell disease with a drug that’s available to regular people — and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it’s a Black disease,” she told the website.

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