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 – Today, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced new legislation to combat anticompetitive practices used by some brand-name pharmaceutical and biologic companies to block entry of lower-cost generic drugs. The issue will also be the subject of a Senate committee hearing next week.
The Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act would deter pharmaceutical companies from blocking cheaper generic alternatives from entering the marketplace. The bill was introduced by Senators Klobuchar and Lee, the ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, and Senators Leahy and Grassley, the ranking member and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“It is as clear as ever: we have an urgent problem with the cost of prescription drugs in our country,” Klobuchar said. “Competition, not anti-consumer actions from pharmaceutical companies, should determine prescription drug costs. Our new bipartisan legislation will protect Americans from the unjustified inflation of prescription drug prices by helping to end these unfair practices that drive up costs.”
The legislation, a version of which was introduced in the House last year, is strongly supported by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association of America (GPHA), consumer groups including AARP, Consumers Union, Public Citizen and Families USA; the American College of Physicians; the American Hospital Association; the AFL-CIO; and the National Coalition on Health Care.
An outline of the CREATES Act can be found here, and text of legislation can be found here.
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 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.
In March, Klobuchar and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the federal agency to examine the dosage size of cancer fighting drugs. Last month, Klobuchar, Shaheen, and Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General today to conduct a study to determine the amount of waste from single use vial drugs.
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