Senator Sanders urges FDA to allow older versions of $375K drug

HEALTH NEWS FEBRUARY 28, 2019
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Deena Beasley

Excerpt:

(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders this week urged regulators to allow pharmacies and manufacturers to resume distributing unbranded, lower-cost versions of a drug used to treat a rare neuromuscular disorder, according to a letter provided by his office to Reuters.

In the Feb. 26 letter, Senator Sanders, citing the Catalyst drug’s “shocking price,” called on FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to announce that the agency will not take enforcement action against pharmacies and manufacturers that were previously providing the drug to patients. Sanders also gave the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in a private meeting on Tuesday.

FDA spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez, in an emailed statement, said the FDA has received the letter and will respond directly to the senator. HHS also said it has received the letter and will respond.

“Catalyst may be the most recent company to exploit their monopoly after receiving FDA approval for an inexpensive old drug, but they were certainly not the first,” Sanders said in the letter.

He noted the prices of very old and inexpensive drugs like colchicine, vasopressin, neostigmine, and others have been raised substantially by drugmakers following FDA approval, causing needless suffering and adding to the cost of health care.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-catalyst/senator-sanders-urges-fda-to-allow-older-versions-of-375k-drug-idUSKCN1QH1LK