Two ways of calculating drug prices: Trump way or the highway.
Trump, who helped push the term “ fake news ” into the mainstream, now seems to have a new favorite subject: fake math.
Announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices on prescription medications had been cut by well over 100% — something that is mathematically impossible without manufacturers dropping prices to zero and then paying consumers to use their products.
Trump boasted that his efforts to lower drug prices had reduced what consumers pay by “500%, 600%.” But he added, “We also sometimes say 50%, 60%” and called it a “different kind of calculation” that could go up to “70, 80 and 90% . People understand that better,” Trump said. “But they’re two ways of calculating” and “either way, it doesn’t make any difference.”
There could indeed be two ways of calculating such things — but the difference is very important. One is correct. The other is nonmathematical.
Announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices on prescription medications had been cut by well over 100% — something that is mathematically impossible without manufacturers dropping prices to zero and then paying consumers to use their products.
Trump boasted that his efforts to lower drug prices had reduced what consumers pay by “500%, 600%.” But he added, “We also sometimes say 50%, 60%” and called it a “different kind of calculation” that could go up to “70, 80 and 90% . People understand that better,” Trump said. “But they’re two ways of calculating” and “either way, it doesn’t make any difference.”
There could indeed be two ways of calculating such things — but the difference is very important. One is correct. The other is nonmathematical.
