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The Health 202: Drug executives may have to defend these expensive medicines to Congress
Source: Washington Post
The Health 202: Drug executives may have to defend these expensive medicines to Congress
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
February 25 at 7:59 AM
Seven drug executives head to Capitol Hill tomorrow for a much-anticipated hearing on the booming costs of prescription drugs in the United States. It’s the largest panel of pharmaceutical CEOs in decades to sit before a congressional committee, so expect sharp confrontations and pointed questions from lawmakers about why these companies have hiked the price of their medicines so dramatically.
The companies that will be represented at the Senate Finance Committee hearing certainly aren't the only one responsible for big price increases over the last two decades. But the list prices on many of their top-selling medications have drawn ire on and off Capitol Hill, prompting vows by President Trump and top committee leaders in Congress -- including top Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the committee's top Democrat Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) -- to investigate and intervene.
The last thing these executives want to hear from lawmakers is any reference to what they regard as government price fixing, either through a Medicare experiment promised by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar or a more drastic policy pushed by Democrats to allow the government to directly negotiate the prices of Medicare prescription drugs.
So as the executives are confronted by the lawmakers, they may stress a need for better policies to promote "biosimilar" drugs (drugs that closely mirror already approved medicines) as a way of introducing more competition. Here are the executives who will sit before the Finance Committee – and some specific prescription drugs they could be asked to defend:
—Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer
You've probably seen television ads for Lyrica — a medication for nerve pain used by patients with fibromyalgia, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. Its list price -- now around $650 for a bottle of 90 pills -- has increased 163 percent since 2012.
-snip-
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
February 25 at 7:59 AM
Seven drug executives head to Capitol Hill tomorrow for a much-anticipated hearing on the booming costs of prescription drugs in the United States. It’s the largest panel of pharmaceutical CEOs in decades to sit before a congressional committee, so expect sharp confrontations and pointed questions from lawmakers about why these companies have hiked the price of their medicines so dramatically.
The companies that will be represented at the Senate Finance Committee hearing certainly aren't the only one responsible for big price increases over the last two decades. But the list prices on many of their top-selling medications have drawn ire on and off Capitol Hill, prompting vows by President Trump and top committee leaders in Congress -- including top Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the committee's top Democrat Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) -- to investigate and intervene.
The last thing these executives want to hear from lawmakers is any reference to what they regard as government price fixing, either through a Medicare experiment promised by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar or a more drastic policy pushed by Democrats to allow the government to directly negotiate the prices of Medicare prescription drugs.
So as the executives are confronted by the lawmakers, they may stress a need for better policies to promote "biosimilar" drugs (drugs that closely mirror already approved medicines) as a way of introducing more competition. Here are the executives who will sit before the Finance Committee – and some specific prescription drugs they could be asked to defend:
—Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer
You've probably seen television ads for Lyrica — a medication for nerve pain used by patients with fibromyalgia, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. Its list price -- now around $650 for a bottle of 90 pills -- has increased 163 percent since 2012.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2019/02/25/the-health-202-drug-executives-may-have-to-defend-these-expensive-medicines-to-congress/5c705fd61b326b71858c6c1d/
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