State Senator Don White is planning to reintroduce legislation that would call for a thorough review of prescription drug pricing in Pennsylvania.
Senate Bill would have created a Pharmaceutical Transparency Commission to look at drug prices in Pennsylvania, and would have required drug companies to make information about their pricing public, and a second commission of government officials and private sector entities would have been established to determine if the drugs are reasonably priced in relation to the overall production cost of the drug. In his remarks on the senate floor, Senator White said that he has seen drug prices continue to go up by leaps and bounds with no explanation. When he asked, he was told the money went to research, but he feels it’s going to marketing the drug via commercials and that is driving the cost up.
White called the issue a bipartisan issue that will help all Pennsylvanians. He said while the Banking and Insurance industries are highly regulated, there’s been a “hands-off” approach to the pharmaceutical industry, and there needs to be more regulation to help keep prices reasonable for consumers.
The bill was originally introduced in June of 2015, and was referred to the Banking and Insurance Committee after its introduction.
