Schakowsky Statement on the Trump Administration's Direct-To-Consumer Drug Ad Announcement
Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Chief Deputy Whip and Congressional Progressive Caucus Health Task Force Co-Chair, released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced it would require the disclosure of drug list prices in direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads:
“Pharmaceutical corporations spend billions on marketing prescription drugs to consumers. Their ads show frolicking people and beautiful landscapes but not the cost. They create a demand for medicines that many American families cannot afford. In fact, the ten most advertised drugs on Television cost between $535 and $11,000 per month. That is why I have worked with my colleagues in the House and Senate to require that pharmaceutical corporations are transparent about the price of the drugs they are advertising and that is why I support the Administration’s proposed rule today to require pharmaceutical corporations to disclose the list price of drugs in direct-to-consumer ads.
“I joined Illinois Senator Dick Durbin in sponsoring the Drug-Price Transparency in Communications Act, which he introduced in the Senate and I introduced in the House. Our bill includes a provision that would require drug price disclosure in ads, much like the proposal Secretary Azar outlined today, which demands that any ad showing a drug over $35 must include the list price of the drug. I led a bipartisan effort, along with Representative Michael Burgess and Gene Green, to support inclusion of that provisions in the most recent government spending bill, which was stripped out at the last minute.
“U.S. consumers have a right to this information. They also have a right to affordable medicines, especially since American taxpayers pay so much to fund their development. While today’s announcement is certainly a step in the right direction, we need to act more aggressively to lower the actual prices of drugs. We are not short of ideas when it comes to how we bring those prices down: Medicare price negotiations, safe importation of drugs, trade agreements that don’t extend monopoly drug pricing practices, and the end of patent abuses that limit competition. Lowering the soaring costs of prescription drugs remains a top priority of mine and of the American public. I welcome today’s announcement and call upon the Trump Administration to back even more fundamental steps that are necessary to lower the unaffordable prescription drug costs Americans face.”
Representative Schakowsky is a leader in Congress on working to lower prescription drug prices for all Americans.