Generic drugs are the backbone of medicines prescribed in the U.S.: They account for about 90% of all prescriptions filled, according to the Association for Accessible Medicines, a trade group that represents generic drugmakers. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson on Trump’s transition team, declined to say whether Trump planned to grant an exemption on generic drugs. According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a group that tracks drug shortages, there are 277 active drug shortages in the U.S., half of which have persisted for two or more years. That’s different from generic drugs, which are cheaper and are often sold at close to the cost for which they were made, he said. What concerns Kesselheim the most is that tariffs could cause generic drug prices to skyrocket should more generic drug manufacturers drop out.

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Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Aaron Kesselheim, Janet Woodcock, ” Woodcock, Arthur Caplan, you’ve, ”, drugmakers, Woodcock, Karoline Leavitt, Leavitt, ” Kesselheim, Hurricane Helene, “ Organizations: Harvard Medical School, Association for Accessible Medicines, Food and Drug Administration, NYU Langone Medical, American Society of Health, System, Baxter International Locations: China, U.S, India, New York City, Hurricane, North Carolina, Indonesia, United States