WASHINGTON – Recently, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper joined members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) in inviting CEOs from major pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb to testify before the committee on the high cost of prescription drugs.
“Here are some of the questions that the American people would like answers to,” the senators wrote in their letter. “Why does the United States pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs? How does it happen that one out of four Americans cannot afford to take the medicine their doctors prescribe while prescription drug companies make billions in profits and pay their executives exorbitant compensation packages? How does it happen that the median price of new prescription drugs in the United States was over $220,000 last year, while the pharmaceutical industry spent billions on stock buybacks and dividends?”
The hearing, titled “Why Does the United States Pay, By Far, The Highest Prices In The World For Prescription Drugs?” is scheduled to take place Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb sell some of the most expensive and widely prescribed drugs in the U.S. relative to the price of those drugs in other countries.
For example, Merck sells Januvia, a drug for diabetes, for $6,000 in the U.S. compared to just $900 in Canada and $200 in France. Johnson & Johnson sells Imbruvica, a drug for blood cancer, for $204,000 in the U.S. compared to just $46,000 in the U.K. and $43,000 in Germany. Bristol Myers Squibb sells Eliquis, a blood thinner, for $6,700 in the U.S. compared to just $900 in Canada and $650 in France.
In 2022, Johnson & Johnson made $17.9 billion in profit and its CEO received $27.6 million in compensation. That same year, Merck made $14.5 billion in profit and its CEO made $52.5 million in compensation; while Bristol Myers Squibb made $6.3 billion in profits and its former CEO made $41.4 million in compensation.
Read the Senators’ letters to Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
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