Sanders, Khanna to Introduce Legislation to Drastically Lower Prescription Drug Prices

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1. Statements of Support for the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act

Statements of Support for the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act

James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
"This bill provides the mechanism necessary to ensure that when prices are excessive, the legal monopoly rather than the patient is put at risk. Patents are privileges and when those privileges are abused, the remedy should not be to deny insurance coverage for an expensive drug. Every time the federal government has been asked to use 28 USC 1498 to address an excessive price, the risks regarding compensation have been raised as an excuse to not act. This bill would greatly enhance the government's leverage to end or threaten to end legal monopolies in order to curb excessive prices. It would also very effectively end the practice of charging U.S. consumers more than other high income countries, since no company would want to lose its legal monopoly as a consequence of charging U.S. residents prices higher than in the reference countries."

Robert Weissman, President, Public Citizen
“American consumers pay far too much for drugs, not because it is costly to manufacture them, or even because of the expense of research and development. We pay too much because the U.S. government grants patents and other monopolies to brand-name drug makers, and then stands aside as Big Pharma exploits those monopolies to price gouge consumers and the government itself. This bill would end Big Pharma ripoffs by relying on generic competition as the cure for brand name companies’ unconscionable pricing. This is a common-sense, market-based solution so that consumers no longer have to ration access to treatment (one in six Americans report skipping prescriptions because of cost issues) or go into debt to pay for the medicines they need. We applaud Senator Sanders and Representative Khanna for their leadership and will be working to build support for their legislation.”

Josh Nelson, Co-Director, CREDO Action
"Big Pharmaceutical companies have been been price-gouging and taking advantage of The American people for far too long. This legislation is a crucial step toward Congress finally holding Big Pharma accountable and ensuring that everyone can access and afford the medications they need."

Stephanie Taylor, Co-Founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee
"Senator Sanders and Rep. Khanna are working to bring down the price of prescription drugs for working families with this critically important bill. Right now pharmaceutical companies charge outrageous prices for drugs that were created with research paid for with public tax dollars — so Americans are paying twice. This bill will help stop this giant rip-off by pharmaceutical companies."