[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 6, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6418-S6419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Prescription Drug Costs

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I thank Senator Durbin. He and I are 
working on something that successfully passed the Senate last year and 
was not agreed to by the House of Representatives. So we are back to 
bring some transparency to pricing of drugs, and that is what I want to 
speak about now.
  I am here to share a secret with the American people. It is about 
prescription drug pricing. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, 
it is no secret that one of my biggest priorities is to rein in the 
soaring costs of prescription medicine. It is no secret that Americans 
are having a hard time paying for medicine. It is no secret that Big 
Pharma doesn't want us to change the status quo.
  In fact, Big Pharma is spending big money to stop Congress and the 
Trump administration from legislating a cure of these high prices. That 
is the secret. They want to keep drug pricing a secret from the 
American people. So what does that mean? It means that Big Pharma wants 
to keep secrecy baked in when it benefits Big Pharma.
  Right now, the very murky drug pricing supply chain is a mystery to 
consumers. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to what consumers will 
owe at the pharmacy counter when they pick up their prescriptions. 
American taxpayers, American seniors, and this U.S. Senator are fed up 
with the lack of consumer information when it comes to pharmaceuticals. 
That is why I am working to inject some Midwestern common sense into 
prescription drug pricing.
  As you can see, I am working with my friend Senator Durbin. We have 
teamed up before on issues that naysayers said couldn't get done.
  You might recall that President Trump signed our FIRST STEP Act into 
law last year. The landmark reforms are protecting public safety, 
saving taxpayer dollars, and bringing fairness to the criminal justice 
system.
  Today, we are teaming up once again to fix an injustice with 
prescription drug advertising.
  Big Pharma spends billions of dollars a year advertising to the U.S. 
consumers. The FDA regulates what these direct-to-consumer ads must 
tell consumers. For example, advertisers must include in their ads 
potential side effects. You hear it all the time on TV--things about 
nausea, diarrhea, depression, weight gain, or even death if you might 
buy one of their drugs.
  But let me tell you what seems to scare Big Pharma to death--price 
transparency. They do not want to tell consumers how much a drug costs 
when they saturate the airwaves with advertising that shows happy 
families enjoying the grandkids, celebrating birthdays, and going on 
vacations.
  Senator Durbin and I believe that Americans have a right to know 
about the price of drugs, like they need to know the side effects of 
drugs or the value of drugs. Consumers should then know what the 
advertised drug costs.
  It happens that the Trump administration agrees with Senator Durbin 
and this Senator on that point, but, of course, Big Pharma sued to stop 
the Department of Health and Human Services' regulations from taking 
effect.
  It is up to Congress, then, to change the law. That is what Senator 
Durbin and I are here to talk about today.
  Almost exactly 1 year ago, I said here on the floor of the Senate 
that it is time for Big Pharma to talk turkey on this subject. Yet here 
we are again, 1 year later, and Big Pharma has ridden the taxpayers' 
gravy train for another 12 months, and part of that gravy train is 
keeping the price of drugs off of the television screens when they 
advertise all of the value of the drugs and the dangers and the side 
effects of those drugs.
  As Americans get ready to count their blessings around the 
Thanksgiving table a couple weeks from now, I hope they can count on 
all 100 Members of the Senate to approve the Durbin-Grassley bill.
  There is no good reason to oppose it unless you would rather keep 
secrets for Big Pharma.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me thank my colleague from Iowa.
  Senator Grassley and I are friends, colleagues, and we work together 
on a lot of issues. We come to this body with different political 
philosophies, but occasionally our ideas converge, and this is one of 
them.
  We know that the pharmaceutical industry spends $6 billion a year on 
television advertising. If you have never seen a drug ad on TV, I know 
one thing for sure: You don't own a TV. You can't get away from them. 
Every time you turn around, there is another ad. And what are they 
telling you in the ads? Don't take this drug if you are allergic to 
this drug.
  How are you supposed to know that?
  You may die if you take this drug. They tell you everything under the 
Sun, except a very fundamental fact, as Senator Grassley has pointed 
out: How much does this cost?
  Xarelto--I know it takes a long time for the drug Xarelto to finally 
reach the point where the average consumer, the average American, can 
even spell it, let alone pronounce it, so they can go ask their doctor 
for it. And do you know how much Xarelto costs--this blood thinner--
each month? It is about $520 a month. But it is not the most heavily 
advertised drug on television.
  At least a few months ago, the most heavily advertised drug was 
HUMIRA.

[[Page S6419]]

Psoriatic arthritis? Remember that ad that showed the person with the 
little red spot on her elbow, and they said if you take HUMIRA this may 
help relieve psoriasis, the patchy skin and such?
  Now, there are serious cases of psoriasis--don't get me wrong--but 
the notion that we would take Humira to clear up psoriasis belies 
reality. Here is the reality. Humira costs $5,500 a month. Now, I am 
not going to win any bathing suit contests nor have perfectly clear 
skin, but it is beyond anybody's mind that we would spend $5,500 a 
month to get rid of the little patch on your elbow.
  Why won't they tell us what it costs? Because they know it is a 
stunning number, $5,500 a month. So what Senator Grassley and I did a 
year ago was to say to the pharmaceutical companies: Go ahead and run 
your ads, but in the ad, disclose how much your drug costs.
  I think it is going to create pressure on these pharmaceutical 
companies when they decide to raise Humira to $6,500 a month. The 
American consumers are going to know in fact what is going on. We 
passed it. We passed our bill in the Senate. We sent it over to the 
conference committee, and it died over in the House of Representatives. 
But things have changed in the House. There is a new Democratic 
majority there. I think we have got a better chance of passing it.
  Later on today, I am going to ask for unanimous consent on this very 
simple bill directed to consumer advertising to say to pharmaceutical 
companies: Disclose in your ad how much your drug costs. That is it. 
Just disclose it. We have come up with the price that they have to 
declare each year as their standard price for the drug. Disclose that 
price to the American people. We think that folks will slow down 
deciding to buy Humira at $5,500 a month to deal with a little red 
patch on their elbow. It is beyond belief.
  So later on, I will make this unanimous consent, and I ask for 
unanimous consent now--since I appear to be the only one on the Senate 
floor now--to speak on a different topic for a moment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.