[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 185 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER ADVERTISING COSTS IN THE UNITED STATES

  (Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring 
awareness today to a challenge that most Americans face every day with 
the high cost of their prescribed medications.
  Since 2010, the practicing cost of drugs in the United States has 
risen by close to 10 percent per year. As a physician, I see patients 
who forgo their medications because they simply cannot afford them.
  In 1996, the United States' use of direct-to-consumer advertising 
began a skyrocketing climb such that, today, 8 out of the top 10 
pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. spend more on advertising than 
they do on research, personnel, or manufacturing. In fact, we are only 
one of two countries in the world that allow this practice, and this is 
a major reason why we have the highest cost of medications in the 
world.
  As a physician, I am often put in the unenviable position of 
explaining to a patient why the drug they see on TV is not the right 
drug for them and why. Patients ask their doctor about this medication, 
only for them to receive entirely different advice from their physician 
who diagnoses their illness.
  Yes, I am an ardent supporter of free speech, yet I would ask the 
American public: Is it worth it to you to pay up to 25 percent more for 
your medications just to see them advertised on television?
  So rather than investing billions of dollars in advertising, 
pharmaceutical companies could be decreasing the cost of medications or 
using that money for cure research.
  I ask for bipartisan support of this measure.

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