House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., accused the panel’s top Republican Wednesday of trying to “actively obstruct” an investigation into high drug prices by telling drug companies to withhold their cooperation.
Cummings told Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a letter that his warning to 12 drug companies earlier this month that Democrats may be trying to sink their stock prices “represent[s] a new low for a Member of this Committee.” He accused the Ohio lawmaker of seeking to protect profitable drug companies and stockholders over the needs of his constituents.
Jordan and fellow panel Republican Mark Meadows of North Carolina warned the drug companies in an April 5 letter that Cummings may be attempting to lower stock prices by requesting sensitive company information that might then be leaked to the public.
Cummings has publicly boasted about his panel’s impact on lowering drug stock prices, which he called “astronomical.”
In the letter, though, Cummings denied boasting to sink stock prices and said his side of the committee is working to lower drug prices.
But Jordan fired back on Twitter.
Cummings, Jordan tweeted, “is trying to divert attention from the classic Washington gaffe of telling the truth. He bragged about affecting ‘stock prices with regard to drugs.’ Congress should focus on lowering prescription drug prices, NOT on companies’ stock prices.”
.@RepCummings is trying to divert attention from the classic Washington gaffe of telling the truth.
He bragged about affecting “stock prices with regard to drugs.” Congress should focus on lowering prescription drug prices, NOT on companies’ stock prices.
See for yourself: pic.twitter.com/vbLC46mRzg
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 17, 2019
Jordan had written to the targeted drug companies to say that the GOP minority was not consulted about the request for “a wide range of highly sensitive, business-proprietary information that would likely harm the competitiveness of your company if disclosed publicly.”
But Cummings wrote that Jordan “was the one blocking a protocol to protect such documents” by not agreeing to Cummings’ terms for protecting the information.
Cummings told Jordan the purpose of the investigation is “to determine why drug companies are increasing prices so dramatically, how they are using the proceeds and what steps can be taken to reduce drug prices.”
Cummings began investigating drug company pricing in January and said that companies have been cooperating.
