Report: Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness and Controversies of Orphan Drugs

The Orphan Drug Act (ODA) was enacted on January 4, 1983. It was designed to encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases. The law was amended the following year to define rare diseases as ones that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. But it also included drugs that affect more than 200,000 people the costs of developing and marketing the drug in the U.S. would exceed revenue from U.S. sales.