Senate holds third hearing on recent surge in older drug prices

The Senate Special Committee on Aging today held the third in a series of hearings to investigate sudden and aggressive price spikes in older prescription drugs. Testifying at the hearing, Richard Fogel, M.D., chief clinical officer for Ascension Health’s St. Vincent health system in Indiana, said Ascension’s costs for two cardiovascular drugs purchased by Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2014 – Isuprel and Nitropress – rose by nearly $12 million in one year, despite the health system’s efforts to reduce their use. “While pharmaceutical price inflation is nothing new, the increases that we have seen in the last few years are simply unprecedented,” he said. As Congress looks for policy solutions, Fogel urged the committee to consider the proposals released this week by the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing and to protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Also testifying at the hearing were Frederick Askari, M.D., director of the Wilson Disease Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor; a patient at the Wilson Disease Center; a retired associate dean of libraries at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA; and executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals.