Bernie Sanders To Propose New Rule Requiring Fair Prices For Taxpayer-Funded Drugs
07/31/2017 12:12 pm ET
Excerpt:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) plans to propose a new rule Monday that would require pharmaceutical companies to charge fair prices for drugs developed with taxpayer-backed research, he told HuffPost.
The rule, introduced as an amendment to the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, would force federal agencies and federally funded nonprofits, such as research universities, to secure a reasonable pricing agreement from a manufacturer before granting patents to make drugs, vaccines or other health care products.
The bill is Sanders’ latest attempt to stop the Department of Defense from awarding drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur an exclusive license to produce a Zika vaccine developed over the past year by the U.S. Army. The mosquito-borne virus is sexually transmitted and causes devastating birth defects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 181 cases in U.S. states this year alone, with another 532 reported in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“The days of allowing Sanofi and other drug makers to gouge American consumers after taking billions in taxpayer money must end,” Sanders told HuffPost. “That is why I am introducing legislation to demand fairer, lower prices for the Zika vaccine and for every drug developed with government resources. This is a fight that we cannot afford to lose.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-drug-prices_us_597f4546e4b0da64e87aaebf
