Pelosi-Backed Drug Pricing Legislation to Hit the House
Public Citizen Experts Can Talk About Pelosi Measure When It’s Unveiled This Week
A U.S. House of Representatives leadership-backed proposal to lower prescription drug prices is expected to be unveiled this week, and Public Citizen experts are available to analyze it and discuss what must be done to make medicines affordable. In addition, Public Citizen will hold a telephone press conference the day the proposal is released to discuss its pros and cons.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Democrats last week that she is crafting a medication pricing proposal and has engaged in talks about medicine affordability with the Trump administration.
The legislation is expected to rely on binding arbitration by the Government Accountability Office to resolve disputes about medication prices between the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary and the pharmaceutical industry.
Separate legislation by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) to lower costs for HHS through negotiation and generic competition already has the support of more than half of the House Democratic caucus and Public Citizen.
Below are two Public Citizen experts who are available to speak about the Pelosi-backed legislation and whether it will make medicines more accessible.
Peter Maybarduk, director, Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program
maybarduk@citizen.org, (202) 588-7755
Maybarduk can comment on the congressional action necessary to make medications affordable. He is an intellectual property expert and is available to discuss prescription pricing.
Robert Weissman, president, Public Citizen
Weissman can talk about problems with binding arbitration as a mechanism to make medications affordable, the effect of political donations on prescription industry marketing practices, medicines regulatory policy and corporate wrongdoing.
Other experts likely will join the telephone press call. Please look for an email with details on the day the proposal comes out.