Shaping Markets

Monopoly Medicine and the Affordability Crisis

11. 04. 2026

Why are prescription drug prices so high, and what can we do to make essential medicines more affordable?

Tahir Amin, co-founder of I-MAK and co-author of Pharma Monopoly, joins Gaby Aboulafia, Economic Security Project Healthcare Fellow, for a conversation about the forces driving America’s prescription drug affordability crisis and the policies that could help address it.

Together, they examine how pharmaceutical monopolies contribute to high prices, the consequences for patients and families, and the potential of public pharma to offer a different approach. The discussion explores how public investment, production, and competition could help build a pharmaceutical system that puts affordability and access ahead of corporate profits.