News from First Weeks of New Year Underscores Urgent Need for Action in Congress
In case you missed it, Big Pharma has hiked prices on 2,167 prescription drugs so far this year – proving once again that without legislative action, brand name drug makers will continue to price-gouge American patients. Among the companies hiking prices were brand name giants Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi who hiked prices on drugs in their portfolios by a median of five percent. Overall, the number of drugs that experienced January price hikes rose 17 percent from the same period last year.
The price hikes come as the crisis of prescription drug affordability continues to grow. A November 2019 Gallup survey found nearly 23 percent of Americans, approaching 58 million U.S. adults, say they have been unable to afford drugs they were prescribed in the past 12 months. The survey found the number of Americans who reported struggling to afford their medications also rose four percent from the start of the year.
The price hikes, at a time of growing concern over affordability, generated a slew of unsavory headlines for the pharmaceutical industry across the first two weeks of 2020 — underscoring the urgent need for Congress to act and pass market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable:
Learn more about bipartisan, market-based solutions to stop the price-gouging and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.