WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today proposed an amendment with several Senators that would prohibit brand-name and generic drug manufacturers from entering into pay-off agreements that delay entry of cheaper drugs in the marketplace.
The Senators filed the amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act currently being debated in the Senate. Grassley joined Senators Herb Kohl, Patrick Leahy and Charles Schumer to introduce the amendment.
“These sweetheart deals only harm consumers by keeping less costly medicines off the market,” Grassley said. “We should be looking out for the American public, not the profits of the drug companies”
Recently there has been a dramatic increase in settlements between brand-name and generic drug manufacturers. The Federal Trade Commission took the position that many of these settlement agreements violate antitrust law and the intent behind the Hatch-Waxman law. The courts have since said there isn’t a problem.
Grassley has said that he agrees with the Federal Trade Commission that these agreements aren’t competitive and only result in higher drug prices for consumers. He also said that the deals threaten the long term sustainability of federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
The amendment is similar to legislation the Senators introduced earlier this year and passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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