Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is helping to shepherd a bill in the U.S. Senate that seeks to stop brand-name drug companies from stifling competition.
Leahy and three other Democratic senators introduced the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act. They plan to hold a hearing next week on the issue.
The bill would stop brand-name pharmaceutical companies “from blocking cheaper generic alternatives from entering the marketplace,” Leahy’s office said in a news release.
“Federal law requires generic competitors to prove that their low-cost alternative is equally safe and effective as the brand-name drug with which they wish to compete,” Leahy said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some brand-name companies are preventing generic manufacturers from obtaining the samples they need to make the necessary comparison.
“This simple delay tactic uses regulatory safeguards as a weapon to block competition. The FDA has reported receiving more than 100 inquiries from generic product developers who were unable to access samples of a brand-name drug to compare their generic product.”
He said nearly three-quarters of the public views prescription drug costs as unreasonable.
“When drug prices are artificially inflated, patients suffer, illnesses become protracted, and families, government programs, and other payers in the health care system ultimately bear the cost,” he said.
Leahy’s office cited several groups in Vermont that support his bill: the Vermont Area Agencies on Aging, Community of Vermont Elders, AARP Vermont, the Vermont Center for Independent Living, Vermont Legal Aid’s Office of the Health Care Advocate, and a generic drug manufacturer in St. Albans.
