CSRXP WELCOMES GOVERNOR CUOMO INVESTIGATION OF DRUG COMPANIES’ PANDEMIC PRICE-GOUGING

Investigation Will Shed Light On Big Pharma’s Price Hikes During Public Health Crisis

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released a statement Friday reacting to an announcement from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office that it has launched a probe into significant price spikes for six drugs connected to the COVID-19 pandemic: Ascor, manufactured by McGuff Pharmaceuticals; Budesonide, manufactured by Cipla USA Inc.; Dexonto, manufactured by Nubratori, Inc.; Mytesi, manufactured by Jaguar Health; Duramorph, manufactured by Hikma Pharmaceuticals; and Chloroquine phosphate tablets, manufactured by Rising Pharmaceuticals. The Governor’s office has demanded statements from each manufacturer explaining the facts and circumstances surrounding the price hikes.

“We commend Governor Cuomo for shining a light on price-gouging behavior from drug companies during the worst public health crisis in nearly a century,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “Policymakers at every level of government should work to expose any instances of price-gouging of COVID-19 treatments and hold Big Pharma accountable for hiking prices during a pandemic.”

“Despite calls to suspend price hikes while millions of Americans continue to grapple with the economic consequences of the pandemic, Big Pharma raised prices on nearly 800 drugs in the first month of this year alone,” Aronson continued. “We hope that Governor Cuomo’s decision to investigate these price hikes sends a signal to lawmakers in Washington D.C. that they must act swiftly to hold drug companies accountable and ensure COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are priced affordably, especially considering the industry has received billions of dollars from taxpayers.”

Governor Cuomo’s office announced investigations into six specific price hikes, including:

These pandemic price hikes build on the almost 800 price hikes brand name drug makers have made already this year. These include hikes from brand name manufactures such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi.

Read more on Big Pharma’s New Year’s price hikes HERE.

Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.

Sign-up for updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.