Martin Shkreli of Turing Pharmaceuticals isn’t the industry’s only CEO taking heat for high drug prices.
Democratic lawmakers want Valeant Pharmaceuticals to justify huge price increases for two heart drugs, saying that the increases of 212 and 525 percent, respectively, are outrageous.
All 18 Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote to Republican Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, asking him to issue a subpoena for Valeant to turn over documents regarding the increases.
They argue that Valeant is using the same business model as Shkreli, the 32-year-old CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Shkreli has suffered a massive public backlash after he raised the price of a decades-old treatment for a parasitic infection from $13.50 to $750 almost overnight.
The reason experts say Shkreli could raise the price so dramatically after acquiring the rights to the drug in August is there is no competition. The drug, called Daraprim, has been around for decades and there is no other generic maker developing an alternative.
The Democratic lawmakers argue that Valeant is doing the same thing for Nitropress and Isuprel, which now cost $805.61 and $1,346, respectively.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., asked Chaffetz for a hearing on Valeant’s price increases in May. The committee’s top Democrat wrote in the letter that Chaffetz’s staff agreed but wanted to get a briefing from the company first.
In July, Valeant spoke with lawmakers’ staff but “failed to adequately answer our questions about the basis for their skyrocketing prices,” according to the letter released Monday.
The next month, Cummings asked for follow-up information, but was rejected by Valeant. Since Valeant has refused to provide the information, Democrats want Chaffetz to force them to provide it under subpoena.
Democrats want information on sales, the cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients and how much Valeant spends on marketing.
The letter also calls for the CEO of Valeant to join Shkreli in a requested hearing before the committee next week.
