Drug Prices
Fourteen leading U.S. drug companies from 2016 to 2020 spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends, $56 billion more than they spent on research and development over the same period, according to a report released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
The Department of Health and Human Services withdrew requests for proposals on ways individuals could import prescription drugs from other countries where they are typically cheaper and companies could 鈥渞eimport鈥 insulin to sell at a lower price.
As patients and politicians continue searching for remedies to soaring insulin prices for diabetes patients, Walmart recently launched the first private-label version of the drug at less than half the price of brand-name versions.
Amy Bricker
President
Express Scripts PBM
1 Express Way
Saint Louis, MO 63121
Dear Ms. Bricker:
Retail prices for 260 widely used brand-name prescription drugs last year increased by an average 2.9%, more than twice the general rate of inflation, according to a report released by AARP鈥檚 Public Policy Institute.
The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP), of which the AHA is a founding member, launched new television and digital advertising encouraging policymakers to hold brand name drug companies accountable.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, re-introduced the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) with other Democratic committee leaders.
The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing launched a grassroots and digital advertising campaign urging policymakers to lower prescription drug prices.
The availability of swift, accurate and reliable diagnostic testing during the public health emergency has been extremely important.
The AHA and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists urged the Food and Drug Administration to take appropriate enforcement action to protect patients from a payer-mandated drug distribution model known as 鈥渨hite bagging.鈥