Bernie Sanders Blasts Big Pharma's Pricing Of Lifesaving Drugs In US During Senate Hearing On Medicare

CEOs of Johnson & Johnson JNJ, Merck MRK and Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY defended the high prices of their drugs as they were grilled by the Senate Health Committee, led by Senator Bernie Sanders who submitted a report blasting the extravagant cost of three drugs.

"Merck began selling a vial of Keytruda in 2015 at an annual cost of $147,000 in the U.S. and $132,000 in Germany. While Keytruda now costs just $89,000 in Germany, it costs more than twice as much in the U.S. at $191,000," the report reads. 

Sanders mentioned a woman in Nebraska who died of cancer after setting up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for Keytruda.

Another example in the document includes Bristol-Myers blood thinner Eliquis, which had an annual cost of $3,100 in the US in 2013, compared to $1,000 in Japan, which dropped to $900 in Japan and climbed to $7,100 in the US.

Sanders accused companies of profiting at the expense of patients’ lives, reports the New York Times.

"Those drugs mean nothing to anybody who cannot afford it," Sanders said, adding that "millions and millions of our people cannot afford the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs in this country."

Other Democrats agreed. But Republicans on the committee defended the drug makers.

"In capitalism, if you're running an enterprise where you have a fiduciary responsibility to your owners, you try and get as high a price as you can," said Sen. Mitt Romney (R) from Utah.

Difference Between Health Care Systems

The three executives who testified – J&J’s Joaquin Duato, Robert M. Davis of Merck and Christopher Boerner of Bristol Myers admitted drug prices are higher in the U.S. but argued that new medications arrive in the country faster than anywhere else in the world. They added that lower prices in Europe and Canada come with challenges such as long waits for new drugs and limited insurance coverage. 

"The United States has built a health care system that prioritizes patient and physician choice as well as the broad and rapid availability of cutting-edge medicines," Boerner said.

Sanders attempted to squeeze a commitment from Boerner that J&J would lower its price for Eliquis in the U.S. to match the price tag in Canada, but Boerner refused. He reiterated the argument that there are differences between the health systems of the two countries. 

The congressional hearing was held as a new federal program enabling Medicare to negotiate the prices of some drugs is getting underway. The three pharmacy companies that testified have all filed numerous lawsuits claiming the negotiation program is unconstitutional. 

The hearing came after a standoff between Sanders and J&J’s Duato of Johnson and Davis of Merck, who agreed to testify only after being threatened with subpoenas.

Continue reading at The New York Times.

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