Soaring Generic Drug Prices Draw Senate Scrutiny

[Auggie]

Source: Associated Press

Some low-cost generic drugs that have helped restrain health care costs for decades are seeing unexpected price spikes of up to 8,000 percent, prompting a backlash from patients, pharmacists and now Washington lawmakers.

Members of the Senate meet Thursday to scrutinize the recent, unexpected trend among generic medicines, which are copies of branded drugs that have lost patent protection. They usually cost between 30 to 80 percent less than the original medicines.

Experts point to multiple, often unrelated, forces behind the price hikes, including drug ingredient shortages, industry consolidation and production slowdowns due to manufacturing problems. But the lawmakers convening Thursday's hearing, led by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, say the federal government needs to do more to bring down prices.

"These companies have seen the opportunity to make a whole lot of money and are seizing that opportunity," said Sanders, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/soaring-generic-drug-prices-draw-senate-scrutiny-27049305

[LittleGirl]

1. In my facebook groups

for my chronic illness, many of the patients are screaming about drugs that used to cost 10 bucks a month jump to 100 a month. It's b.s.

[SoapBox]

2. Pure...Greed...Price-Gouging

And it's immoral.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Why is Imperial Overlord Obama not using his dictatorial powers to lower the prices?

Where is Fox News on this?

[L0oniX]

4. Sociopath profiteers.

[jwirr]

5. They are just begging for price controls however the incoming congress will not do it. So look for

them to go up even more.

[SoapBox]

11. Another end result of Voters failing to vote.

While even with DINO's semi in power we could hope to at least stir the pot on pricing, with threats of some controls...BUT with the Pukes and Baggers, the sky is the limit on prices. Just remember to apply their best medical plan offered to Americans...

Just...Die...Quickly.

[jwirr]

14. Exactly.

[LiberalArkie]

6. I wonder it the price of generics have gone up in Europe or Asia?

I bet they haven't.

[valerief]

7. America's freedom. Freedom to gouge. nt

[djean111]

8. The TTP (and TTIP) actually will make things like this worse. In all of the countries

in the agreements.

http://www.exposethetpp.org/TPPImpacts_Public-Health.html

"The TPP would provide large pharmaceutical firms with new rights and powers to increase medicine prices and limit consumers' access to cheaper generic drugs. This would include extensions of monopoly drug patents that would allow drug companies to raise prices for more medicines and even allow monopoly rights over surgical procedures. For people in the developing countries involved in TPP, these rules could be deadly - denying consumers access to HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and cancer drugs.

The TPP would establish new rules that could undermine government programs in developed countries. The TPP would control the cost of medicines by employing drug formularies. These are lists of proven medicines that the government selects for use by government health care systems. Lower prices are negotiated for bulk purchase of such drugs and new medicines that are under monopoly patents are not approved if less expensive generic drugs are equally effective. Drug firms would be empowered to challenge these decisions and pricing standards. In the United States, these rules threaten provisions included in Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' health programs to make medicines more affordable for seniors, military families and the poor.

TPP would empower foreign pharmaceutical corporations to directly attack our domestic patent and drug-pricing laws in foreign tribunals. Already under NAFTA, which does not contain the new rules proposed for TPP, drug firm Eli Lilly has launched such a case against Canada, demanding $100 million for the government's enforcement of its own patent standards.

The TPP would also empower foreign corporations to directly challenge domestic toxics, zoning, cigarette and alcohol and other public health and environmental policies to demand taxpayer compensation for any such policies that undermine their expected future profits. Often initiatives to improve such laws are chilled by the mere filing of such an "investor-state" case. In other instances, countries eliminate the attacked policies. For instance Canada lifted a ban on a gasoline additive already banned in the U.S. as a suspected carcinogen after an investor attack by Ethyl Corporation under NAFTA. It also paid the firm $13 million and published a formal statement that the chemical was not hazardous. "

Remember this stuff when your fave politician starts talking up the TPP and TTIP.

[Auggie]

12. +1

[progressoid]

9. Uh oh, someone is going to get a slap on the wrist.

I'm not criticizing Bernie. Go Bernie Go!

It's just that too many Senators have their hands in corporate pockets for anything meaningful to happen.

Yes, I'm jaded.

[dotymed]

10. America desperately

needs and deserves Bernie as POTUS. I sincerely believe, even with American apathy, that he is our last chance for a non-violent revolution.

[LeftInTX]

13. I wonder if the drug companies are shuffling prices due to pharmacy discount programs?

In the last several years, pharmacies have offered discount programs for generic meds at $5/month. I wonder if these programs allow drug manufacturers to keep prices low on some meds while allowing prices to soar on other meds?

A local pharmacy lists albuterol, which is mentioned in article for $5.
However the other med in the article, doxycline, is not on the list. It's price is $334.

https://www.heb.com/static/pdfs/Rx-Rewards-Platinum.pdf

This is pretty disgusting and I'm glad that Sen Sanders and Elijah Cummings are on the case!

[Auggie]

15. Perhaps ... my med prices fluctuate from month to month

$20 on one month, $3.90 the next. Is it pharmacy discounts, drug company prices, insurance coverage, or a combination of all three?

[kiranon]

16. Generic companies may be captive companies owned

or controlled by the patent holder so that generics sell for much more and are less competition to the original drug. At least that is what a pharmacist said me when the generic for my daughter's medicine cost almost as much. He said in the future more companies would make the generic drug and the price would go down and that is what happened. Original drug companies should not have any connections with the makers of the generic drug or be able to set the price the generic sells for.

[freshwest]

17. Called my insurer about drug prices last month. They are now advising patients to go with brand name

instead of generics, but only if the price on them is lower with the brand name. The person I talked to went over the price sheets and was upset with the increases in generics that she found on them.

They are having to deal deal with this daily and the representative was amazed. Generics had long been the cost cutting plan. They are deluged with people calling after suffering sticker shock at the pharmacy.

I've also seen the shock on the face of the people filling the scripts. Word is getting back to doctors of how patients can't afford prescriptions that for many years they thought of as the smart alternative to brand name drugs.

I read an article on DU that the Koch brothers have bought most of the generic manufacturers. They are also owners of many supermarkets, just run them under different names. Between food, fuel, water, drugs and media, they are part of our daily lives even if we refuse to admit it.

I expect things will get worse and more in your face (and in your wallets). Americans seem to have accepted these changes with their apathy. Soon we'll pay them part of all we make for essentials. There's little left but to call them the Koch Kings.

[Faryn Balyncd]

18. Teddy Roosevelt would handle this like he did the Northern Securities (Railroad) Trust :

http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Capitalism-and-Labor/The-Northern-Securities-Case.aspx





(The same guy who in 1912 ran on a platform that said :

"...From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare, they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day......" )




When the Koch Brothers cornered the generic Doxycycline market, the price went fron $4 to >$100.... Teddy Roosevelt would have made the eat shit.

[awoke_in_2003]

19. The Senate will be going on vacation soon...

and when they get back the new class will be coming in. This will be swept under the rug.

[ancianita]

20. Perhaps this will heighten the fight for single payer as a 2016 campaign issue. nt