MEDIA ADVISORY: HELP Committee to Hold Hearing on Outrageous Cost of Prescription Drugs, CEOs to Testify

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 – The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), will hold a hearing Thursday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m. ET titled, “Why Does the United States Pay, by Far, the Highest Prices in the World for Prescription Drugs?” with the CEOs of Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck all testifying.

The CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, Chris Boerner, agreed to testify in early January. Last week, after a subpoena vote was scheduled, Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato and Merck CEO Robert Davis reconsidered their original positions and agreed to give testimony.

“The simple truth is that the American people are sick and tired of paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” said Sanders. “I look forward to a very productive hearing, and hope very much that the CEOs of these major pharmaceutical companies will take a serious look at these incredible price discrepancies and work with us to substantially reduce the prices they charge the American people for these and other prescription drugs.”

Today, Merck charges diabetes patients $6,900 for Januvia when that exact same product can be purchased for $900 in Canada and $200 in France. Johnson & Johnson charges Americans with arthritis $79,000 for Stelara, while that same product can be purchased for $16,000 in the United Kingdom. Bristol Myers Squibb charges patients in America $7,100 for Eliquis, while that same product can be purchased for $900 in Canada and just $650 in France.

Due to the high cost of prescription drugs, one out of four Americans cannot afford the medicine their doctors prescribe. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry has spent, over the past 25 years, some $8.5 billion on lobbying and over $700 million on campaign contributions.

In 2022, Johnson & Johnson made nearly $18 billion in profits, paid its CEO over $27 million in compensation and spent over $17 billion on stock buybacks and dividends. That same year, Merck made $14.5 billion in profit, handed out over $7 billion in dividends to its wealthy stockholders, and paid its CEO over $52 million in compensation. Last year, Bristol Myers Squibb made $6.3 billion in profits, while recently spending over $12 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and giving its CEO over $41 million in compensation.

Under the chairmanship of Sanders, the HELP Committee has focused, among other isssues, on lowering drug prices in America. The committee has already heard testimony from four pharmaceutical CEOs representing Moderna, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi.

Sanders and the committee were pleased that the CEO of Moderna committed during a HELP Committee hearing that Moderna would set up a patient assistance program so that no one in America would have to pay for their COVID vaccine out of pocket. In a separate HELP Committee hearing last year, the CEO of Eli Lilly committed to Chairman Sanders that his company would not raise prices on existing insulin products after a prior commitment to substantially lower prices for the insulin they manufacture.

Hearing Details
What: Hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to consider “Why Does the United States Pay, by Far, the Highest Prices in the World for Prescription Drugs?”
When: 10:00 a.m. ET, Thursday, February 8, 2024
Where: Room 430, Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearing will also be livestreamed on the HELP Committee’s website and Sanders’ social media pages.
Who:
Panel I
Joaquin Duato, Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson
Robert Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Merck
Chris Boerner, Chief Executive Officer, Bristol Myers Squibb

Panel II
Peter Maybarduk, J.D., Access to Medicines Director, Public Citizen
Tahir Amin, LL.B., Chief Executive Officer, Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge
Darius Lakdawalla, Ph.D., Director, Research, University of Southern California Schaeffer Center