President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, saying they would start small but could increase by up to 250%, a move critics say would be a major blow, especially for cancer patients.

Mariana Socal, an associate professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University, said 30% of cancer patients already do not fill their prescriptions because they can’t afford them.

“Affordability of prescription drugs is a problem for U.S. consumers, even those who do have insurance,” she said.

There has also been a shortage of important chemotherapy drugs, and Socal warned that the tariffs could make matters worse.

“We are actually exposing patients to perhaps higher costs and deeper affordability problems or shortages because some manufacturers may

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