Members of the House Oversight Committee have sent letters to three pharmaceutical companies, asking for answers about medication shortages and price gouging.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee members have sent letters to major pharmaceutical companies, pressing them for a briefing about the nationwide shortages affecting certain drugs. Letters have been sent to Pfizer, Sandoz, and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA.
According to the Feb. 21 press release from the oversight committee helmed by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md), oversight Democrats released a report in December 2021 concluding that after a three-year investigation of the pharmaceutical industry, certain companies had raised prices of common brand-name drugs by nearly four times the rate of inflation from 2016 to 2020.“Today’s letters launch an investigation that builds on the Committee’s previous work to ensure all medications are easily accessible to those who rely on them,” the committee said in a statement.
“Committee Democrats request the drug manufacturers provide information related to the shortages no later than March 6, 2024, to help determine root causes and practical solutions needed to remedy them.”
According to the oversight committee, Pfizer and its subsidiaries are major manufacturers of carboplatin, cisplatin, and methotrexate, which are common generic drugs used to treat cancer. Intermittent