Dems to HHS: Stop ‘staggering’ generic drug price increases

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) called on the Obama administration to prevent the increasing costs of generic drugs.

“The federal government must act immediately and aggressively to address the increasing costs of these drugs,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell.

{mosads}The two lawmakers have previously written drug makers asking why prices have “risen at alarming rates.” They asked drug makers to respond by Oct. 23.

In their letter to Burwell, they cited examples of an asthma medication going from $11 to $424 in one year. Sanders and Cummings said the price increases not only affect consumers but also the federal government.

“These huge price increases are affecting the pocketbooks and health of millions of Americans,” the letter stated. “The rapidly increasing prices being charged for generic drugs is also directly affecting the budgets of Medicare, Medicaid, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.”