Ohio Capital Journal
One of two federal agencies tasked with policing anticompetitive behavior among corporations last week said it has a lot more work to do when it comes to the prescription-drug supply chain.
One of the members of the Federal Trade Commission went even further. He suggested the agency has abdicated its responsibility as drug prices have risen, taking an ever-larger bite out of family budgets even as generic drugs flood the marketplace.
“Drug prices are out of control, and too many players in the pharmaceutical industry have failed to follow the law. There is a growing consensus that the Federal Trade Commission’s approach to overseeing the pharmaceutical industry is not working,” Commissioner Rohit Chopra said in a May 28 statement.
“For example, I am unable to identify an instance where the FTC has filed a lawsuit in federal court to block a merger of pharmaceutical companies,” he added. “In addition, the FTC largely stood by as the pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) industry consolidated to three main giants and even took steps to undermine state legislation.”
That last sentence is significant.
The letter accompanied a six-page report requested by Congress that discussed the system of rebates drug manufacturers give drug middlemen, or PBMs, in exchange for PBMs covering brand-name medicines and giving them preferred treatment. But the report focused almost exclusively on ways drugmakers might use rebates to shut down competition with other drugmakers. Continue Reading