would make it so drug companies can鈥檛 charge Americans more for prescription drugs than the median price in 11 other wealthy nations 鈥� including Canada, Japan, Australia, and eight others in Europe.
Americans spend more on prescription drugs . At a press conference, Merkley told reporters that鈥檚 because of politics.
鈥淗ere in America our political system gives drug companies enormous clout because they can put almost unlimited sums into campaigns,鈥� Merkley said.
Under his bill, pharmaceutical companies that sell their drugs for more than the reference price would face civil penalties charging five times the amount they profited.
Merkley said he鈥檚 pushing the Biden Administration to include similar drug price reforms into the American Families Plan. That鈥檚 a massive legislative initiative that鈥檚 expected to include childcare subsidies, paid family leave and other domestic policies.
In Oregon, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed , which would create a state board that could set limits on how much Oregon buyers would be allowed to pay for generally high-priced drugs.
