BEIJING, November 23 (Xinhuanet) -- There is increasing concern amongst U.S. Democrats that pharmaceutical manufacturers have raised prices ahead of proposed health care reforms.
Democrats in the U.S. Congress are calling for a government investigation into recent price rises of brand-name prescription drugs.
"I want to know if there's a back-door move underway by the drugmakers to recover some of the concessions they've promised for healthcare reform," said Senator Bill Nelson, who represents many older Americans in the state of Florida.
On Wednesday Nelson asked the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general to investigate the issue. Meanwhile leaders of the House of Representatives Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees said in a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that they would probably seek another analysis of price trends after the health overhaul measures are implemented.
This week the American Association of Retired Persons criticized an estimated 9 percent increase in prices for some of the most-widely used medicines. However, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents brand-name drug manufacturers, said the hearings were inspired by "the misleading use of statistics and sensationalized media reports". They also said price rises were in line with medical inflation.
In a statement issued by PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson, he said, "Clearly, AARP has been trying to muddy the waters... for its own political gain... as we enter the homestretch of the healthcare reform debate." He said that price increases were often necessary. "Companies make price adjustments independently as the result of market forces, which include everything from patent expirations to the huge, sunk R&D costs which typically exceed $1 billion for a single medicine, as well as the ability of powerful purchasers to obtain large savings, benefiting patients," Johnson said.
Charles Rangel and Henry Waxman, the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee respectively, are more skeptical saying that drug manufacturers "may be artificially raising prices for certain pharmaceutical products in expectation of new reforms." Such "price gouging is unacceptable," they said in a letter, "but anticipatory price gouging is especially offensive."
(Agencies)
