Sanders calls on Trump to support drug pricing bill
pharmafile | January 11, 2019 | News story | Medical Communications | Bernie Sanders, Trump, access, pharma, pricing
Senator Bernie Sanders has called on President Donald Trump to support new legislation aimed at cutting prices on prescription drugs.
The ruling could see: the opening up of generic competition on patent protected, brand name drugs that are deemed “excessively priced”; the ability for Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies; and consumers being allowed to import lower priced medicines from Canada.
The proposed bill would go far beyond Trump’s plans in allowing generic companies the ability to make affordable versions of medications that were more expensive in the US than the median price in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan.
“Today I say to President Trump, if you are serious about lowering the cost of prescription drugs in this country, support our legislation and get your Republican colleagues on board,” Sanders said at a press conference in Capitol Hill.
Congressman Elijah Cummings reiterated the point in stating: “No more talk. No more tweets. The American people want action.”
While Trump initially called for similar measures in suggesting that Medicare should be able to negotiate drug prices and that patients should be able to import drugs from abroad, the majority of Republicans favour a free market approach.
As such the ruling has little chance of coming into law. Nevertheless, the call puts pressure on Republicans in echoing Trump’s calls for pharma firms to lower their prices. As of yet, Trump’s own attempts to reduce the price of drugs have had little on the pharmaceutical industry.
Louis Goss
Related Content
FDA approves IMIDEX’s AI-powered device VisiRad XR
The technological pharmaceutical company IMIDEX has been granted clearance from the US Food and Drug …
Artiva Biotherapeutics announces FDA clearance of IND for AlloNK and Rituximab combo
On 16 August 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially cleared Artiva Biotherapeutics’ …
Novartis acquires Chinook Therapeutics for $3.5bn
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has entered into an agreement and plan of merger with US-based …
