Sanders says pharma CEOs facing possible subpoenas will testify about drug prices
Source: The Hill
01/26/24 3:23 PM ET
The CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck have agreed to testify at a Senate hearing in February about prescription drug prices and will not face a subpoena, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Friday.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing will take place on Feb. 8. Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato, Merck CEO Robert Davis and Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner will testify. The announcement comes one day after Sanders held a press conference to needle the executives for refusing to testify because they did not have the expertise.
The committee was scheduled to vote Jan. 31 on subpoenas for the testimony of the CEOs, but Sanders said that is no longer needed. They would have been the first subpoenas issued by the HELP Committee in more than 40 years. “The use of a subpoena was clearly a last resort and I’m delighted that these CEOs will be coming into our committee voluntarily,” Sanders said in a statement.
The Vermont senator said he wants the executives to explain why their companies charge substantially higher prices for medicine in the U.S. compared to other countries. All three companies manufacture some of the most expensive drugs sold in the U.S., including the diabetes medication Januvia from Merck, the blood cancer drug Imbruvica from Johnson & Johnson and the blood thinner sold as Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb.
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4432050-sanders-says-pharma-ceos-will-testify-drug-prices/
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we subsidize the rest of the world. 
That's why they're all multi-billionaire companies, and their executives are multi-millionaires. It's another thing that I blame on Ronald Reagan, there's been no accountability for anything since 1980. That's how we wound up with evil people like the Sackler family, and they're not the only ones.
Hold these companies - and their executives - accountable for their actions. Give them the choice of paying 90% income tax, or charge Americans the same price for their products that they charge everyone else in the world.
