The American Medical Association urged the Federal Trade Commission to take action against the major drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers they say are contributing to the skyrocketing prices of insulin, according to The Hill.
In a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, the AMA said they are concerned that the insulin price hikes are unrelated to the costs of research, development, commercialization or production.
"While a variety of complicated factors contribute to increases in insulin prices, we remain concerned that anticompetitive behavior by manufacturers and pharmaceutical benefit managers could be one of them," the AMA wrote, adding that these artificially high prices could cause harm to patients.
Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk control 99 percent of insulin supplies across the globe, and advocates have been asking them to explain their pricing for years. The drugmakers usually shift blame to PBMs and argue the list price of insulin isn't what patients actually pay because it is reduced by the secrete rebates negotiated by PBMs.
Rising insulin costs have drawn outrage from diabetes advocates and physicians in recent years, which prompted promises by drugmakers to halt price increases. However, the cost of insulin is still rising.
Read the full report here.