House Dems Open Investigation Into Pharma’s Drug Pricing Strategies, Calling The Probe One Of The Broadest In Decades
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings sent letters to drugmakers requesting detailed information about their pricing practices, focusing on drugs that are the costliest to Medicare Part D as well as drugs that have had the largest increases over a five-year period. The move is just the latest in a flurry of legislation and congressional action taken on the topic of high drug prices this year.
The Associated Press:
House Dems Announce Sweeping Investigation Of Drug Pricing
House Democrats announced a sweeping investigation Monday of the pharmaceutical industry's pricing practices, jockeying for the upper hand with the Trump administration on an issue that concerns Americans across the political spectrum. Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said he's sent letters to 12 major drugmakers seeking detailed information and documents about pricing practices for brand-name drugs to treat diseases including cancer, diabetes, kidney failure and nerve pain. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/14)
Reuters:
U.S. Lawmaker Launches Investigation Into Pharma Drug Pricing
AbbVie Inc, Amgen Inc, AstraZeneca PLC, Celgene Corp, Eli Lilly and Co, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt PLC, Novartis AG, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer Inc, Sanofi and Teva Pharmaceutical all received letters seeking information about their pricing practices. Novo Nordisk, Amgen, Celgene, and Novartis said they were reviewing the request. The other drug companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Abutaleb, 1/14)
Stat:
House Democrats Launch Drug Pricing Investigation
“For years, drug companies have been aggressively increasing prices on existing drugs and setting higher launch prices for new drugs while recording windfall profits,” Cummings said in a statement. “The goals of this investigation are to determine why drug companies are increasing prices so dramatically, how drug companies are using the proceeds, and what steps can be taken to reduce prescription drug prices.” (Facher, 1/14)
Bloomberg:
Drugmakers Pressed To Explain Pricing As House Panel Opens Probe
Drug manufacturers have been under increasing pressure over the cost of their medications. President Donald Trump has lambasted price hikes and persuaded manufacturers to limit some annual increases taken by many companies. In the past week, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have proposed new legislation to rein in drug prices. (Cortez, 1/14)
The Hill:
Oversight Launches Major Drug Pricing Investigation
Drug pricing is set to be a top issue among Democrats in Congress this year, and the letters from Cummings were sent ahead of a hearing on drug prices scheduled for Jan. 29 — the first Oversight panel hearing since Democrats took control of the House. (Weixel, 1/14)
And in other pharmaceutical news —
Stat:
Medicare Part D Could Have Saved $14.4B In 2016 By Negotiating As The VA Did
As Congressional lawmakers push to negotiate prices for Medicare Part D, a new analysis finds the federal government could have saved $14.4 billion on the top 50 pills that were covered two years ago if the program obtained the same prices as the Department of Veterans Affairs, which already haggles for discounts. For instance, the VA spent roughly $1.7 billion on the Harvoni hepatitis C treatment sold by Gilead Sciences (GILD) in 2016, compared with $3 billion spent by Part D, which spent more on this particular pill that year than any other oral medicine. (Silverman, 1/14)
Stat:
CVS CEO Hints The Company Could Deliver Prescriptions By Drone
Larry Merlo, chief executive of CVS, has big ideas for how his company will transform healthcare. It’s merging with Aetna, one of the country’s largest insurers. It’s opening new clinics where patients can get blood tests along with their toilet paper. And it might one day deliver drugs by drone. “We are doing some work on that, believe it or not,” Merlo said, visibly flustered, in response to a question about whether the company had looked into distributing prescriptions by drone. (Swetlitz, 1/15)
Modern Healthcare:
CVS-Aetna Merger, Drones Are On CVS CEO Larry Merlo's Mind
As the $70 billion megamerger between CVS Health and Aetna awaits final approval from a federal judge, CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo on Monday talked about the deal, anti-competitive concerns and whether PBMs have a target on their back at the National Press Club. (Luthi, 1/14)
