00:00U.S. President Donald Trump is ordering drug makers to cut their prices.
00:04A new executive order says companies must sell in the U.S. at the same prices they offer
00:08in other countries.
00:10Right now, Americans pay nearly three times more for prescription drugs than people in
00:13other developed nations.
00:15In Taiwan, where drugs are relatively cheap, there are jitters about how drug makers could
00:20react, because the U.S. market accounts for a third of world spending on medicine.
00:24Too big to lose.
00:26To keep U.S. prices high, companies could raise prices elsewhere.
00:30And in a worst-case scenario, they could stop selling to less profitable markets like Taiwan
00:34altogether.
00:36Pharmacists say cancer patients are among those who stand to lose the most.
00:39Do we need to reduce drugs, or do we need to reduce drugs, or do we need to reduce drugs?
00:44We need to use drugs, we need to use drugs, we need to use drugs, and we need to use drugs.
00:55Just yet, cutting-edge drugs could take much longer to reach Taiwan, maybe three to five
00:59years after other countries, as companies focus on profit in big markets like the U.S.
01:04.
01:05Whether Trump's order will be effective is uncertain. And the government says there's a
01:22system in place to make sure Taiwan has a stockpile of medication it needs.
01:27But concerned pharmacists say, without higher health insurance premiums, Taiwan could soon find it hard to get the high-end medications needed to keep people healthy.
01:51Kline Wong and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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