Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have sent letters to 14 drug manufacturers seeking information regarding rising prices for generic drugs.
"It is unacceptable that Americans pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs," said Sen. Sanders. "Generic drugs were meant to help make medications affordable for the millions of Americans who rely on prescriptions to manage their health needs."
The letters included data from the Healthcare Supply Chain Association on recent purchases of generic drugs by group purchasing organizations over the past two years. During that time, the price tag for Doxycycline Hyclate — an antibiotic used to treat infections — grew by more than 8,000 percent for a bottle of 500 100 milligram tablets.
"When you see how much the prices of these drugs have increased just over the past year, it's staggering, and we want to know why," said Rep. Cummings.
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