Senate report blames greed of big pharma for expensive drugs
WASHINGTON – A new Senate report has found that American taxpayers pay more for health care than other countries.
According to a report by Sen. Bernie Sanders who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), a Johnson and Johnson treatment costs $25,000 to $56,000 in the U.S., compared with $4,000 to $10,000 in other countries.
He said the pharmaceutical industry’s greed is reprehensible and results in Americans paying twice, first in taxes to fund research and then again at pharmacy counters.
“What makes the greed of the pharmaceutical industry so reprehensible is the fact that the American people are paying twice for some of the most expensive prescription drugs on the market: First through their taxes and a second time at the pharmacy counter,” he said.
Most of these medical treatments were developed with the help of scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The report calls it unacceptable that half of the new prescription drugs developed with the help of NIH scientists now cost more than $111,000.
“It is unacceptable that half of new prescription drugs invented with the help of NIH scientists now cost more than $111,000,” said Sanders.
Sanders is a longtime advocate of measures to lower healthcare costs.
Last month, he introduced the “Medicare for All” bill with Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell.
“The price of some of these taxpayer-funded drugs is now over $1.9 million,” Sanders highlighted, referring to Myalept, which is manufactured by Amryt Pharma to treat leptin deficiency and costs $580,000 a year in France.
Tecartus and Yescarta, made by Gilead Sciences to treat cancer, cost $424,000 each in the U.S., compared with $306,000 for Tecartus in Germany and $212,000 for Yescarta in Japan.
The U.S. government directly funds the development of some drugs and sometimes helps with testing.
There are even cases where the government financially supports the approval of drugs by the Food and Drug Administration and the expansion of production.
Many Covid-19 products developed under Operation Warp Speed benefited from this type of support.”
The report calls for the inclusion of a reasonable pricing clause in contracts when taxpayers support new drugs.
Sanders said such a clause used to exist but was withdrawn after industry pressure.
Sanders argued Monday that it is time for the Biden administration to take action to significantly lower prescription drug prices and address the unacceptable greed of the pharmaceutical industry.
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