Op-ed: I'm a local Nebraska surgeon. My patients can't afford tariffs on pharmaceuticals

Media Type: Online News

Outlet: Omaha World-Herald

Author: Dr. Demetrio J. Aguila

Published Date: July 2, 2025

President Trump recently confirmed what many of us in the healthcare field have feared: tariffs on imported medicines are on the table. The White House is now considering using a law intended to protect national security to justify tariffs as high as 200% on pharmaceuticals.

As a surgeon who treats patients in pain every day, I find that deeply troubling. For families across Nebraska, these tariffs would mean fewer choices, higher prices, and new barriers to care.

I run a medical practice in Papillion, where I specialize in treating chronic and nerve pain. Many of my patients are working Nebraskans -- farmers, veterans, teachers -- who've tried everything else. Their treatments are often complex. Some rely on advanced medications made entirely overseas or on drugs produced here using ingredients imported from allies like Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland.

These drugs aren't luxury goods. They're essential. And unlike French cheeses or German cars, they can't be easily substituted with domestic alternatives. Patients don't choose their diagnoses, and they can't afford to shop around when their doctor prescribes a specific medication.

If the administration goes through with tariffs on medicines, some of these critical, life-saving drugs would suddenly become far more expensive, if not harder to access altogether. Faced with steep new import taxes, drugmakers will raise prices and health plans will pass them on to patients by increasing copays or other out-of-pocket costs.

And this isn't just about imported drugs. Roughly one-third of active pharmaceutical ingredients in U.S. medicines come from Europe.

For Nebraskans, the consequences would be swift and severe. In a rural state like ours, healthcare access is already a challenge for too many. Patients in the Sandhills or parts of the Panhandle often travel hours just to see a specialist like me. Thousands rely on the VA or Medicaid to afford the care they need. If prices rise or supply chains falter, many may be forced to ration doses or skip treatment entirely.

That's why, for decades, medicines have been kept out of trade fights. Reversing course now would be both dangerous and unnecessary.

Supporters of the tariffs argue they're a necessary, if painful, way to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. As a 21-year Air Force veteran who spent years caring for our troops overseas, I understand the importance of secure supply chains, especially when it comes to adversarial nations like China.

But are cancer drugs from Switzerland or arthritis treatments from Ireland a national security threat? I've seen no evidence they are. If we trust these allies to handle sensitive U.S. intelligence and U.S.-developed defense systems, surely we can trust them to manufacture our medicines, at least until we build more capacity here at home.

And while tariffs are intended to encourage domestic production, the reality is that drug manufacturing can't pivot on a dime. Building a pharmaceutical plant can take years and cost billions of dollars. In the meantime, patients are left to absorb the cost.

We've already seen what happens when drug supply chains are stretched too thin. Over the last few years, U.S. hospitals have reported record shortages of basic antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs. Tariffs would only make this crisis worse, especially for advanced therapies we're not equipped to produce domestically right now.

As a physician and a veteran, I understand the need to bolster America's medical manufacturing base. But throwing up new trade barriers that hurt Nebraskans and undermine the doctor-patient relationship is the wrong approach. The path to greater self-sufficiency lies in smart, long-term investment -- not short-term shocks that leave patients in pain.

Medicines should remain off the table for any future tariffs. President Trump made the right call by excluding them from his first wave. He should make the exemption permanent. If these tariffs move forward, the cost won't just show up on a balance sheet, but in exam rooms and at pharmacy counters, too.

Demetrio J. Aguila, III, MD, is a world-renowned peripheral nerve surgeon based in Papillion. Dr. Aguila is an Air Force veteran who serves as the leader of the Nebraska Chapter of the Free Market Medical Association.