Coalition briefs Congress on proposals to rein in soaring drug prices

The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing yesterday held a Capitol Hill briefing and panel discussion on market-based solutions to the nation’s soaring prescription drug prices. “This is a public health crisis….with the health of real patients at stake,” said John Lewin, director of the critical care and surgery pharmacy division at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. “This issue of escalating drug prices is not limited to a few bad apples whose primary business model is to create new monopolies to limit access to old medicines. If you look closely, price increases over the course of a drug’s life, that far exceed inflation, are common practice.” Other panelists included Sally Welborn, senior vice president of global benefits for Walmart; Sam Nussbaum, M.D., former chief medical officer at Anthem; Bob Doherty, senior vice president of government affairs and public policy for the American College of Physicians; and Leigh Purvis, director of health services research for the AARP Public Policy Institute. The AHA is a member of the Campaign, a coalition of health care providers, insurers, consumers and employers calling for greater transparency, competition and value to rein in soaring prescription drug prices.