Danny Katz
Executive Director, CoPIRG
Executive Director, CoPIRG
CoPIRG
Coloradans with cancer, heart disease, epilepsy and other conditions have been forced to pay an average of 10 times more than necessary for at least 20 blockbuster drugs, according to a report released today by Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) and Community Catalyst.
The report, “Top Twenty Pay-for-Delay Drugs: How Drug Industry Payoffs Delay Generics, Inflate Prices and Hurt Consumers,” reveals that these drugs were subject to an industry practice called “pay for delay,” in which brand name pharmaceutical companies pay off generic drug manufacturers to keep lower cost equivalents off the market, forcing consumers to pay higher brand-name drug prices.
“It’s outrageous that drug companies are paying off the competition to keep prices high,” said CoPIRG’s Danny Katz . “Because of this, people in Colorado pay inflated drug prices, or go without necessary medication. This needs to stop.”
The top 20 list comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that pay-for-delay agreements may be illegal under antitrust law, opening the drug industry to lawsuits over the deals. However, the Court chose not to declare all such payoffs unlawful, spurring consumer advocates to call on Congress to finish the job and pass legislation to put a stop to the practice.
Pay-for-delay deals have postponed as many as 142 generics from coming to market, according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports. But since the details of these deals rarely become public, consumers have been largely kept in the dark about the problem.
Key drugs highlighted in the report include:
“These top 20 are the tip of the iceberg,” said Wells Wilkinson, Director of Community Catalyst’s Prescription Access Litigation Project. “To put this list together, we combed through the information that has been made public thanks to consumer class action lawsuits, legal challenges brought by the FTC, research by legal experts, and public disclosures by drug makers.”
Key findings of the report include:
“Consumers have been stuck paying more than they should have to for needed medication. Now, they’re looking to Congress to put a stop to this practice,” said Katz. “Lawmakers should end these drug company shenanigans that inflate drug prices and hurt the people that rely on prescription drugs.”
There is bipartisan support for ending pay for delay. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) are sponsoring S.214, the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act. The bill declares that pay-for-delay deals are presumed anticompetitive and unlawful, and it authorizes the FTC to enforce the law by initiating proceedings against companies that participate in such deals.
Sens. Al Franken (D-MN) and David Vitter (R-LA) are sponsoring S.504, the FAIR Generics Act. The bill reduces the incentive for generic and brand name drug companies to make pay-for-delay deals by letting a second generic drug company enter the market if the first generic company takes a pay-for-delay deal. Senator Udall and Bennet have important roles to play in advancing efforts in Congress to end the practice of pay for delay.
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CoPIRG, the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest advocacy organization that takes on powerful interests on behalf of its members, working to win concrete results for our health and well-being. More information at www.copirg.org
Community Catalyst is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that works in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and philanthropic foundations to ensure consumer interests are represented in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill. The organization’s Prescription Access Litigation project has challenged the pay-for-delay deals blocking consumer access to affordable Provigil, Cipro, K-Dur, and Tamoxifen. More information at www.communitycatalyst.org.