Senate Finance Committee members released a report today detailing an 18-month investigation that revealed a pharmaceutical company priced and marketed Hepatitis C drug ‘Sovaldi’ in order to maximize profits at the expense of consumers

Klobuchar has introduced bills that would empower Medicare to negotiate for best possible price of prescription medication, allow the safe import of prescription drugs from Canada, and crack down on deals that prevent affordable generics from reaching the market 

WASHINGTON, DC – In light of a new report on profit-driven prescription drug pricing, Senator Amy Klobuchar is calling on Congress to immediately pass legislation that will help lower drug prices for consumers. Senate Finance Committee members released a report today detailing an 18-month investigation that revealed Gilead Sciences marketed Hepatitis C drug “Sovaldi” in order to maximize profits at the expense of consumers. The $1,000 per pill price tag is limiting the number of patients who can access the treatment and has already cost Medicare and Medicaid billions of dollars.

“It is as clear as ever: we have an urgent problem with the cost of prescription drugs in our country,” Klobuchar said. “This report presents yet another example in which a drug manufacturer’s first priority is how much money it can squeeze from consumers with no regard for what it means for the Americans who need its treatment. This is an alarming trend that we cannot allow to continue. We need to pass legislation to protect consumers from the unjustified inflation of prescription drug prices.”

Klobuchar is a leader in the Senate on addressing the high cost of prescription drugs, authoring multiple pieces of legislation that would protect American consumers. The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act would empower Medicare to negotiate for the best possible price of prescription medication for America’s seniors who are enrolled in Medicare Part D. Current law only allows for bargaining by pharmaceutical companies and bans Medicare from doing so. The bill would help cut costs for more than 37 million seniors and boost Medicare savings.

The Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act would help Americans access safe, affordable prescription drugs from Canada by requiring that the Federal Drug Administration establish a personal importation program that would allow individuals to import a 90-day supply of prescription drugs from an approved Canadian pharmacy.

The Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act would expand consumers’ access to the cost-saving generic drugs they need, increasing competition and choices for consumers by helping put an end to the sweetheart deals in which brand-name drug manufacturers pay their generic competitors to keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market.

Klobuchar has taken on drug price hikes in the past, including calling for an investigation last month into whether Turing Pharmaceuticals is illegally preventing generic entry to protect its 5,000% price increase on Daraprim. Also last month, she sent a letter with Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible illegal collusion by manufacturers connected to IV solution shortages.

 

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