Melissa Sinden

Americans pay among the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and many have to choose between buying the medications they need and other essentials. Meanwhile, brand name drug prices continue to increase at rates that far exceed general inflation. Nationally, the average annual cost of prescription drug treatment increased 57.8% between 2012 and 2017, while the annual income for Georgians increased only 9.6%.[i]

In 2016, a federal regulation was promulgated which required that any professional making a recommendation or solicitation regarding investments act in the best interests of their clients and put their clients' interests above their own. This policy protected consumers from receiving advice from financial experts that would benefit the advisor based on fees and commissions collected. After receiving pushback from the financial industry, the jurisdictional agencies began reexamining the policy.