Prescription drugs are among the most common health care interventions and have turned some once-fatal diseases into manageable conditions - but they have also been a growing source of controversy. Patients in the US struggle with increasing costs and express concerns about why many conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, remain without adequate therapeutic options. This presentation will cover eight unexpected causes of high drug prices. PROFESSOR JONATHAN DARROW joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law (PORTAL) in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2016, following service as Senior Law Clerk to a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the court that decides all patent appeals involving pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. He holds degrees in biological sciences / genetics, law, and business from Cornell, Duke, and Boston College, respectively, as well as a research doctorate in pharmaceutical policy and intellectual property theory from Harvard, where he also completed the LL.M. program.