Four-Dollar Generics — Increased Accessibility, Impaired Quality Assurance

The affordability of prescription medications is one of the most pressing public health issues in the United States. Many patients take less than their prescribed doses to make medications last longer or do not fill prescriptions at all because of cost. 1 Both patients without insurance coverage for drugs and those with such coverage underuse medications because of cost 2 — and this problem has grown as employers have cut back on drug benefits. The failure to provide essential medications for chronic diseases may have massive adverse consequences for public health and the overall costs of health care. As we prepare to . . .