[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 1, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H11753-H11754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          BREAST CANCER DRUGS: INTERNATIONAL PRICE COMPARISON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, by now, most Americans are aware that 
prescription drug prices are higher in the United States than any other 
industrialized country; 2, 3, even 4 times higher. It is difficult to 
believe that drug manufacturers manipulate prices even when a drug is 
used to treat a life-threatening illness like cancer. Unfortunately, 
that is exactly what the drug makers are doing.
  A study I released yesterday looks at the prices charged for drugs 
used to treat breast cancer. Mr. Speaker, 8,600 women in Ohio will be 
diagnosed with breast cancer this year; and 1,900 will die from this 
disease. In the counties I serve as a Congressman, women with breast 
cancer pay 2\1/2\ times more for the 5 most commonly used breast cancer 
drugs than women in Canada pay, in France pay, in England pay and in 
Italy pay. Tamoxifen, the most widely used cancer drug, has the 
highest-priced differential. A monthly supply of Tamoxifen costs an 
uninsured woman in my district $114. In Canada, it costs $12; in 
France, it costs $10.20. We are talking about price differentials in 
the 850 percent to 1,000 percent range. It is unbelievable and it is 
unconscionable. A woman diagnosed with breast cancer needs to devote 
all of her energy to fighting that cancer. The toughest battle should 
be surviving the cancer, not finding ways to pay for medications. 
Prescription drug prices are priced unreasonably, unjustifiably, and 
outrageously high in the United States.

[[Page H11754]]

  Drug prices are two and three and four times higher here than in 
other industrialized countries. Why? Because the prescription drug 
industry can get away with it. We do not negotiate prices because this 
Republican-led Congress will not do that. We do not demand that drug 
manufacturers reduce their prices to reflect the taxpayer-funded 
portion, almost half, the taxpayer-funded portion of the research and 
development. Why? Because this Congress will not do that. We do nothing 
to help the 44 million Americans under 65 and the 11 million over 65 
who lack insurance for prescription drugs, again because this Congress 
has failed to enact Medicare coverage for prescription drugs.
  The U.S. is the wealthiest Nation in the world. Our tax dollars 
finance a significant portion, almost half, of the research and 
development underlying new prescription drugs. Why do we tolerate 
congressional inaction? The prescription drug industry has a huge stake 
in the status quo and spends lavishly to preserve it. They pour money 
into political campaigns, $11 million in this year alone, $9 million of 
it going to majority Republicans. They pour money into high-pressure 
lobbying, they pour money into front groups that pose as consumer 
organizations like Citizens for Better Medicare. They try to scare 
Americans into believing that if we do not let drug manufacturers 
charge obscenely high prices, then they will not do research and 
development anymore; yet drug companies could afford to spend $13 
billion promoting their products last year.
  Drug companies' profits outpace those of any other industries by 5 
percentage points at least. The drug industry consistently leads other 
industries in return on investment, return on assets, return on equity. 
Thanks to huge tax breaks, the drug industries' effective tax rate is 
65 percent lower than the average in other U.S. industries. Why? 
Because this Congress will not do anything about it. It doesn't matter 
whether we could take steps to make prescription drugs more affordable 
in this country; the only thing that matters is this country has failed 
to take steps to do that.
  Drug industry lobbying convinced the Republican leadership to weaken 
a bill that would have allowed Americans to buy larger quantities of 
prescription drugs from Canada and other countries where drugs are 
priced lower. Whether we build on the progress of at least some 
legislation depends on which party controls the White House and which 
party controls Congress. Republicans and Democrats should be united, 
Mr. Speaker, in their determination to address the prescription drug 
issue. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The Republican majority has 
consistently bucked every attempt to seriously address prescription 
drug coverage under Medicare and to seriously address prescription drug 
pricing. I urge my colleagues to check the record. It will bear me out.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to waste another minute, much less 
another session of Congress pretending to address the prescription drug 
industry with watered-down legislation and unworkable Medicare 
prescription drug proposals. The public should demand policymakers to 
deliver a strategy that prevents the drug industry from robbing us 
blind. We should not leave here before the election until this Congress 
passes prescription drug coverage under Medicare and does something 
about the outrageously high prices that prescription drug companies 
charge American citizens.

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