Magic-wand price caps harm the consumers they are said to help. When it comes to pharmaceuticals, such as the newly approved Trikafta, price caps might lead to suffering and premature death.

Baby boomers remember when the country endured a serious gasoline shortage coast to coast in the 1970s. Consumers endured hourslong gas lines, hoping the fuel would not be gone by the time they reached the pump.

There was no shortage of crude in the ground or refineries. The direct cause of the shortage was former Republican President Richard Nixon deciding fuel was so important he placed a cap on the price. Energy producers who could not afford the cap simply quit pumping fossil fuels from the ground. The whole thing backfired.

Price caps typically lead to shortages because few are in business to give away goods and services or, even worse, sell them at a loss. Price caps are a crude instrument that's no match for economic and sociological principles.

Don't trust us on this. Look to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Its website says:

— Price controls ... reduce product innovation and quality.

— Repeal of price controls during the 1970s caused shortages followed by rapid inflation.

— Price controls on prescription drugs — such as those imposed by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — stunt pharmaceutical innovation, imposing large, long-run costs on Americans that outweigh the short-term benefits of lower prices (by fiat).

Despite this knowledge, the state has threatened to cap the price of a miracle drug on the market since April. Trikafta is a godsend for people suffering from cystic fibrosis. It is easy to comprehend the well-intentioned sentiment, but price caps don't change the organic nature of economic dynamics.

Patients swear by the new drug and make little fuss about the cost — up to $300,000 a year, which is covered by Medicare and other insurance policies. Patients say anyone needing the drug easily can find financial assistance.

Colorado's Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board announced in August a plan to cap the price of Trikafta. CBS Denver talked to a group of Trikafta consumers who fear the proposed cap. Stacy Emore administers the drug to her 4-year-old daughter with cystic fibrosis and a life expectancy of 40.

"Your life revolves around her treatment schedule, revolves around her pill times," Emore said.

Not anymore. Since the approval of the drug in April, "she can breathe, and she can run, and she can dirt bike, and horseback ride ... It was the wind beneath her wings and finally, she can soar."

The drug took years and unfathomable investment to gain approval and reach the market. Investors expect their money back. If the company anticipated price controls, it might not have sought investors or bothered developing Trikafta.

Those who need the drug rightly fear the cap would make it difficult to find in Colorado. The company, objectors told CBS, will focus on supplying states that don't forbid returns on investment.

Emore said she and her family, and many others they know, might leave Colorado if a price control inevitably leads to scarcity. Opponents say the five-member affordability board won't even hear them.

"You're gambling with our lives and our children's lives. Why can't you devote two hours of your time to listen to our biggest fear in life right now?" asks Emore.

Good question. Price caps send feel-good messaging that politicians love. It makes them look as if they care. That's of little use to people who endure the shortages caused by excessive interference in the market.

The Gazette Editorial Board

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

Photo credit: Christine Sandu at Unsplash