House, Senate Dems introduce legislation to combat 'abusive' pharma business practices
By Paul Schloesser
Associate Editor, Endpoints
In the aftermath of Congress introducing legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices — which currently remains in limbo after the failed passage of the Build Back Better Act — some congressional Dems have shifted gears and have put their targets on other pharma business practices.
Debbie Stabenow
House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney led a group of Democrat colleagues and introduced three bills on Thursday to target “business practices pharmaceutical companies use to suppress competition, maintain market monopolies, and keep drug prices high,” a statement from the officials said.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat and chair of the Senate’s finance subcommittee on health care, also introduced those same bills in the Senate with Minnesota Dem Tina Smith.
The three bills include:
The Discounted Drugs for Clinical Trials Act, which would go after brand name sponsors who restrict access to samples of drugs necessary for bioequivalence testing. The bill would grant certain researchers access to drugs or biologics for research purposes with a certain price cap: a maker’s cost to
