[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 117 (Tuesday, September 17, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SPIRALING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kerns). Pursuant to the order of the 
House of January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I came to the floor today to talk 
about the high cost of prescription drugs, which I will, but I am moved 
to respond for a moment to my friend from Michigan. He should visit 
some of the Northeast Ohio steel mills that have run into incredible 
problems because of unfair foreign competition and what it has meant to 
jobs in communities like Lorraine and Cleveland and Warren, Ohio, and 
other places because of dumped foreign, illegally dumped steel. And 
while some applauded the President's actions back several months ago, 
we certainly do not applaud the President selling out the steel 
industry after making sort of a head-fake in a political way that he is 
supporting the industry, and now has gone around the world promising 
other countries and reducing and in many cases revoking some of the 
tariffs that clearly have made the steel industry put in a more 
competitive position and in a more level playing field.
  Mr. Speaker, industry experts predict that premiums for employer-
sponsored health insurance will jump 13 to 24 percent next year, the 
third straight year of double-digit increases. What is driving the 
increased premiums? Mostly it is spiraling prescription drug costs.
  In response to the public's outrage at astronomical drug prices, the 
brand name drug industry says, Not to worry, prescription drugs 
actually save money by reducing health care costs. If they were more 
reasonably priced, that would be the case. There is no doubt that 
prescription medicines can reduce disability, prevent illness, and help 
alleviate the need for other health care services. Unfortunately, drugs 
are priced so outrageously high that costs associated with their 
increased use far outstrip any offsetting savings that might accrue. 
They are priced so high that millions of seniors cannot afford them, 
and other Americans, too. Even a miracle cure is worthless if people 
cannot have access to it.
  Skyrocketing drug prices are jeopardizing employer-sponsored health 
insurance, undercutting the financial security of seniors, and 
absorbing an enormous share of the Federal and State taxes devoted to 
health care.
  Something has to give. The first step is the most obvious. Brand name 
drug industries exploiting loopholes in the law to block lower-priced 
generic drugs from even getting into the market, we can stop that. 
Generic drugs are identical to their brand name counterparts except for 
price. Generics are typically 70 to 80 percent less expensive than 
their brand name equivalent.
  In some cases the price differential is even greater. The anti-
anxiety drug Vasotec sells for $180 per prescription. The generic costs 
$55, a savings of $125.
  Consumers lose millions in potential savings when brand name 
companies block their competitors from entering the market. As a matter 
of fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates consumers would save 
$60 billion in the next 10 years if Congress would close the legal 
loopholes that drug companies use to scam the patent system.
  Under current law, for instance, FDA suspends generic drug approvals 
for 2\1/2\ years the moment a brand name drug company sues for patent 
infringement. By attaching new and often unrelated patents to an 
existing drug right before its original patent expires, brand name 
companies have been able to repeatedly get a 30-month addition 
lengthening of their patent.
  The drug industry ties up generic drug approvals in the courts by 
repeatedly challenging the methods the FDA uses to ensure that the 
generic and the brand product are equivalent. The CBO estimates that 
consumers will lose $60 billion, as I said, due to these delaying 
tactics. That is how much consumers will save if Congress and the 
President do the right thing.
  The Federal Trade Commission, the Patent and Trademark Office, and 
the President have acknowledged the need to address inappropriate 
delays in access to lower-priced generic products.
  The other body passed by an overwhelming margin legislation to close 
the loopholes and deliver long overdue relief to American consumers. 
The House of Representatives should pass it, too.
  There are three pieces of legislation, each of which would close the 
loopholes. They are not partisan. They are not radical. And, 
realistically, they are not a panacea. But any one of them, if passed 
by this Congress and signed by the President, will force the drug 
industry to clean up its act, will get generic competition into the 
marketplace, will save consumers tens of billions of dollars.
  I urge Republican leadership, which has stood in the way of this 
because of their closeness to the drug industry, I urge Republican 
leadership to give Members the opportunity to debate and vote on one of 
these bills in time to get a product to the President's desk.
  Members of both sides of the aisle recognize that it is time to do 
something about runaway prescription drug costs. Removing unjustifiable 
barriers to lower-priced medicines is a logical step. Given the havoc 
that runaway drug prices are wreaking on this Nation, on all people, 
but especially on America's seniors, it should be an imperative.

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