Overview
- On Meet the Press NOW, Kristen Welker played clips of President Trump claiming drug-price cuts of up to 1,500 percent and pressed CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz on how such figures could be possible.
- Oz argued a $100 drug lowered to $50 is “100% cheaper,” offering a nonstandard calculation that diverges from conventional percent-change math.
- He pointed to a recent fertility-drug deal, saying prices fell from roughly $242 to $10, as evidence of dramatic reductions.
- Fact-checkers across multiple outlets explained that a price cut cannot exceed 100 percent and that a 100 percent reduction would bring the price to zero.
- Independent calculations show the $242-to-$10 example is about a 95.87 percent decrease, undercutting the administration’s claims of reductions greater than 100 percent.