Senators want to force drug makers to justify big price hikes

In the first legislative response to the EpiPen pricing furor, a bipartisan group of Senate and House members plan to introduce a bill Thursday that would force drug makers to tell the Department of Health and Human Services why any price hike of more than 10% is justified at least a month before the increase.

Companies would have to disclose spending on research and development, manufacturing, marketing and advertising spending on the drug, as well as profit information — and all but the confidential or proprietary details would be made public, according to the office of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., a co=sponsor of the Fair Accountability and Innovative Research (FAIR) Drug Pricing Act.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. is co-sponsoring the legislation in the Senate and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., is the House sponsor.

"I don't think there is a person in the House or Senate who is not hearing from constituents about the drastic increases they are seeing in their prescription medication," Baldwin said in an interview Wednesday. "There are some very powerful (drug) corporations with very powerful spokespeople, but we ultimately answer to our constituents."

The Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations announced last week that it opened an inquiry into the pricing of the EpiPen, which stops allergic reactions by injecting epinephrine into the body. Heather Bresch, the CEO of Mylan, which makes the EpiPen, will testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Sept. 21 in a hearing called by Republicans and Democrats on the panel.

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EpiPen's steady price increases masked until deductibles rose

Baldwin emphasized the bill doesn't set prices, but requires drug companies to "come clean with the American people," Congress and HHS about why prices go up when they do. She cited how EpiPen prices rose dramatically even though they "didn’t change composition or form."

While the introduction this late in the session makes passage virtually impossible, Baldwin says it is "intended to create momentum" among members of Congress and consumers for legislation next year when the co-sponsors plan to reintroduce it.

"This legislation would bring much-needed transparency to prescription drug prices," McCain said in an emailed comment. "Transparency leads to accountability, and it is past time that mantra applied to the skyrocketing cost of prescription medication.”

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