Posted by Michael Wonder on 30 Sep 2020
House panel says drug makers inflated prices to boost profits and reap bonuses
30 September 2020 - The Democrat-led reports come just weeks before Election Day, and amid efforts by President Donald Trump to show progress on slashing drug costs.
Major pharmaceutical companies raised drug prices exponentially by hundreds or thousands of percent to boost profits and executives’ bonuses, “taking full advantage” of Medicare rules, a House panel said Wednesday.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee this morning reported the findings, the first from its 18 month investigation into a dozen drug companies' pricing practices, ahead of two days of hearings with the manufacturers.
The initial documents focus on Bristol Myers Squibb and Celgene — which Bristol acquired last year — along with Teva Pharmaceuticals. They will likely be followed by another pack on Thursday as executives from Amgen, Mallinckrodt and Novartis AG are scheduled to testify 1 October.
