Doggett Statement on Today’s PhRMA Briefing Regarding H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act
***Press Release***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 10, 2019 | Contact: Kate Stotesbery 202-225-4865 |
Doggett Statement on Today's PhRMA Briefing Regarding H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act
San Antonio, T.X. — Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, reacted to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) briefing on H.R. 3, The Lower Drug Costs Now Act:
"So accustomed to using monopoly power for price gouging the sick and dying, Big Pharma is, of course, unwilling to accept even H.R. 3. To describe this narrow bill as producing ‘nuclear winter' makes one wonder what cataclysmic term would be applied to genuinely comprehensive negotiation legislation. This grim term better describes the fallout from monopoly prices which patients are suffering. But today's condemnation from Big Pharma is no indication that H.R. 3 will deliver lower prices for most consumers.
Our guiding principle must always be seeking the most relief for the most patients. The few other measures that Big Pharma embraced today offer little hope of lowering prices. Those of us willing to challenge price gouging must work together to improve H.R. 3 by repealing the Republican prohibition on Medicare negotiation, expanding the number of drugs subject to negotiation beyond 25 annually, addressing sky-high launch prices, extending big price-spike protection to all patients, assuring that taxpayer-financed Big Pharma research produces affordable medications, and including the most vulnerable who lack insurance."
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