By James Ruehmann | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
As Coloradans, we pride ourselves on independence, resilience and fairness. Yet, hardworking families across the state are being squeezed by a crisis that strikes at the heart of these values: the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.
While Washington debates solutions, the real answer lies in confronting the anti-competitive practices of Big Pharma that exploit loopholes, manipulate patents and stifle competition. President Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and newly elected Colorado Republicans have a historic opportunity to champion reforms that prioritize patients over profits — starting with dismantling Big Pharma’s monopolistic playbook.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has a unique opportunity to address these challenges. His nomination, along with President Trump’s leadership, provides the opportunity to bring a renewed focus on combating anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry.
Colorado Republicans, including newly-elected congressional members like Reps. Crank, Hurd, and Evans, all ran on expanding health care access and lowering costs. It is essential that the realities of sky-high drug costs, particularly in rural Colorado, are represented and addressed in these critical discussions.
The statistics are staggering. Drugmakers earn $18.6 billion in global revenues per drug on average — 10 times more than their development costs. Unfortunately, not all of this revenue is attributable to a healthy, free, and competitive health care market.
Take Humira, used by countless Coloradans to manage autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Despite its core patent expiring in 2016, the drug’s manufacturer filed 247 patents — 132 of which were granted — to create a “patent thicket” that delayed biosimilar competition until 2023. This tactic kept Humira’s annual cost at $78,000 per patient, even as vastly cheaper biosimilars flooded European markets years earlier. Such abuses are not unique: 7 out of 10 top-selling U.S. drugs face expiring patents this decade; yet, manufacturers routinely extend monopolies with minor tweaks like making slight formula changes or minor dosage alterations. Filing multiple patents to extend monopolies distorts costs and disincentivizes drug innovation, exactly the wrong approach for Coloradans struggling with high costs.
Other practices like “pay-for-delay” patent settlements allow pharmaceutical companies to extend their monopolies and block competition. “Pay-for-delay” agreements involve brand-name drug manufacturers paying generic companies to delay the release of cheaper alternatives, a practice that costs consumers an estimated $3.5 billion annually. In rural parts of the Western Slope with limited access to health care, that makes the resulting price increases even more difficult for families to absorb.
To truly promote a healthier America, we need federal reforms that prioritize both competition and promote price transparency. Last week, President Trump rightly criticized the vast disparity in drug prices between the U.S. and other countries, noting that medications like Ozempic are priced at $88 in London but cost $1,200 in New York, despite being produced in the same factory. These costs differentials are almost entirely attributable to the grossly lacking transparency in drug pricing.
The fastest way President Trump and RFK Jr. can lower drug prices is to ensure that generic and biosimilar drugs can enter the market. Colorado lawmakers and the Trump administration should promote policies that crack down on anti-competitive practices and create additional competition to lower costs.
Rural Coloradans in particular understand the value of a fair and competitive market. Our farmers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs thrive when the rules are applied equally. But when it comes to Big Pharma, the free market is being rigged—and hardworking Coloradans are paying the price.
This isn’t just about lowering drug prices — it’s about restoring trust in a system that has been exploited for too long. It’s about ensuring that innovation serves patients, and it’s about proving that America can lead the way in market-based health care solutions.
The time for action is now. Let’s encourage leaders like President Trump and Colorado Republicans to seize this moment and Make America Healthy Again.
James Ruehmann is an 18-year-old sophomore at Colorado Mesa University studying energy and land management. James launched Colorado First Action in February of this year to elect candidates, champion policy, and support ballot measures that put Colorado and America first. Learn more about CFA’s mission at Coloradofirstaction.org
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.