U.S. lawmakers introduce eight antitrust bills aimed at drug prices

In an unusual hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel on Thursday, lawmakers from both parties and from both the Senate and the House said that they had introduced bills aimed at stopping practices that pharmaceutical companies use to fend off generic competition, which studies show tend to push down prices.

"Millions of Americans started their day with a dose of prescription medication. Unfortunately, for many patients, those drugs aren't affordable. Prescriptions are left at the pharmacy counter. Doses are skipped or rationed until the next paycheck.Two of the bills, one in the House and another in the Senate, is aimed at stopping product-hopping, or making a minor change to a medication to win a new patent.

Others would seek to ban pay-for-delay patent settlements, where brand name drug companies pay generics to delay entering the market. Another enables the Federal Trade Commission to ban sham citizen petitions, where drug companies petition the Food and Drug Administration about a generic company seeking approval for a rival drug with the goal of delaying its approval.

And a last pair are aimed at making it easier to bring biosimilars, essentially generic versions of biologic drugs, to market. These medicines are more complicated than chemical medicines because they include living organisms. Each of the bills has a Republican lawmaker and a Democrat as a sponsor of both the House and Senate versions. To become law, bills must pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Pelosi drug price plan threatened by centrist defectionsHouse Democrats’ push to tack a sweeping drug price negotiation bill to President Biden’s infrastructure package was always going to face a fight in the evenly divided Senate. But the legislation is also hitting troubled waters in the House.
Source: politico - 🏆 381. / 59 Read more »

Texas Democrats Strike Jim Crow 'Purity of Ballot Box' Language from GOP Voting BillLawmakers struck the phrase from the bill after a Democratic representative pointed out its racist origins So it's fixed... EndWhiteSupremacy What a misleading headline ...
Source: RollingStone - 🏆 483. / 51 Read more »

Biden Tax Plan Takes Aim at Trump-Era Investment IncentiveThe Biden administration says it’s trying to spur investment in America—while proposing to remove a four-year-old tax break that was intended to do exactly that Waiving IPs will make this even worse Tax break didn't spur investment.... Time to get rid of it and actually pay for real investment. The rich have gotten richer, time for them to end their greed and look to fixing our nation. A “tax” break that the companies flat out said they weren’t going to reinvest on workers before it even passed.
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »

U.S. antitrust senators query Google over testimony meddling concernsU.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee sent a letter to Google on Tuesday saying they were 'deeply troubled' by what they called a possible attempt to influence witness testimony following a statement at a congressional hearing by a Match executive.
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »

Why Joe Biden is banning menthol cigarettesAbout 18.6 million Americans smoke menthol cigarettes, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Menthol Cigarettes today. Pineapple Pizza tomorrow. NannyStateHasYourBack BanStupidPeople Fuck what am I going to smoke now when I want a cigarette.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »