The U.S. Senate Committee on Aging has released a report calling on Congress to take action to prevent huge and unjustified increases in certain prescription drugs that have been on the market for years, but have no competition.
“For many Americans, access to prescription drugs is not only critical to their quality of life but can literally be a matter of life and death,” says Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the panel.
Collins says some of the drug companies examined by the yearlong study act more like hedge funds, seeking to maximize profits at whatever cost. She says while the federal government should not be setting drug prices, it cannot stand by while companies jack up prices of sole-source drugs needed to treat serious diseases.
One recommendation of the panel is that Congress should give the FDA authority to allow imports of medicines in certain very narrowly defined circumstances, when consumers have been hit with huge increases in prices for drugs that have no competition.
