[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 64 (Monday, May 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H3289-H3290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES AND THE COST OF HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, for those Members who are going home and 
having town hall meetings and meeting with constituents, the one issue 
that comes up with almost every small business, big business, medium-
sized businesses, and it comes up with families and school boards, as 
well as coming up with representatives of State legislatures, it is the 
cost of health care.
  One of the issues we talk a lot about in Minnesota, because we are so 
close to the Canadian border, is the difference between what we pay for 
prescription drugs and what people on the other side of the Canadian 
border pay for the same drugs.
  I have in my hands two boxes of Celebrex. We had a hearing last week 
in the Committee on Government Reform and I held these up and asked: 
Can anyone tell me which one of these drugs came from another country 
and which one came from the United States? Well, the answer is you 
cannot tell because they are exactly the same. Another question, 
though, about the Celebrex, is which one is safe? Well, according to 
the FDA, and now according to the company itself, depending upon the 
condition you may have with your heart and blood, neither one of them 
may actually be safe.
  What I want to talk a little bit about tonight is the differences 
between what we pay here in the United States and what they pay in 
Germany for the same drugs. I have a list here, and we have some 
pharmacies now around the world who, on a regular basis, will send us 
via e-mail what the pricing is right then for anyone who walks in off 
the street to buy the drugs.
  Here are a few examples. I am going to talk later about the drug 
Nexium. You can buy that at the Metropolitan Pharmacy in Frankfurt, 
Germany, for $60.25. That same drug, same potency, same everything, 
made in the same plant, sells at a local pharmacy in Rochester, 
Minnesota, for $145.33.
  Look at Prevacid. In Germany, it is $35.22, American. In the United 
States it is $146.47. Zocor. This is an interesting drug. You can walk 
in off the street with a prescription and you can buy it in Germany, 30 
tablets, 10 milligrams, for $23.83. That same drug in Rochester, 
Minnesota, will be $85.

                              {time}  1930

  But what I want to talk about is the Germans. Even if we add up 10 of 
the most commonly prescribed drugs, in Germany you can buy all of those 
for $455.57. Those same drugs in the United States would be more than 
double that at $1,040.04.
  That is bad enough, but what makes it even worse is the Germans are 
looking at cutting the cost that they paid for prescription drugs. 
Recently, the German health care system announced that they would not 
pay for Lipitor. Why not? Well, the ministry decided last year it could 
no longer cover the high prices of some of the branded drugs because 
they were deemed to have the same medical efficacy as available 
generics.
  The point is even though they are buying Lipitor considerably cheaper 
than we buy it here in the United States, they still think it is too 
much and the manufacturers cannot justify the price.
  The other story is from The Washington Post where even the Department 
of Defense is starting to get it right. They are saying they will not 
reimburse for Nexium except in rare circumstances. Nexium is the new 
purple pill, and it came out to replace Prilosec. That is why we have 
to pay so much for these drugs, because these are blockbuster drugs.
  The truth of the matter is by their only filings with the FDA, Nexium 
is not much more effective than Prilosec. As the Department of Defense 
says in the article, Nexium is not worth the money. It goes on to say 
it is pretty dubious to pay $4 a pill for Nexium when over-the-counter 
Prilosec is 67 cents.
  Mr. Speaker, I think Americans ought to have access to world-class 
drugs. I think we ought to pay our fair share. I think we ought to be 
willing to subsidize the starving people in sub-Saharan Africa, but I 
do not think Americans should have to subsidize the starving Swiss. I 
do not think Americans ought to be forced to pay the world's highest 
prices for these drugs. No one can tell the difference. These are the 
same drugs. They come from the same plants; and yet as Members can see, 
we are paying many times 50, 60, 70 percent more for the same drugs.
  I am asking Members to join in this effort by cosponsoring my 
Pharmaceutical Market Access bill. We have been working on this for 
several years. It has passed the House a couple of

[[Page H3290]]

times. This time I think we can get it past the Senate as well.

                          ____________________