Forum draws focus to drug costs

Connecticut leading coalition of states in lawsuit against prescription companies

Stonington — Prescription drug prices have skyrocketed in recent years and state lawmakers want to know why.

Part of the answer may come in the form of data being gathered this year as a new law mandates a host of reporting requirements for drug prescriptions from pharmacies, health insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Among other requirements, insurance carriers will be required to report the 25 most frequently prescribed drugs, along with the cost and the price increase from the previous year.

State Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton, referred to it as the transparency law, part of a larger package in House Bill 5384, passed in 2018 to address the growing drug costs and allow the state to get a better handle on the reasons why drug manufacturers continue to raise prices on generic drugs that in some cases have been around for decades. Certain provisions in that law took effect Jan. 1.

Conley was part of a panel discussion Saturday at the Stonington Community Center and joined Attorney General William Tong, state Rep. Kate Rotella, D-Stonington, state Rep. Joe de la Cruz, D-Groton, and others for an update on efforts to curb the high costs of generic prescription drugs.

Tong outlined the state’s pending lawsuit against 20 generic prescription drug companies, a group he referred to as a “cartel” that has colluded to hike up the prices for their own benefit. Connecticut, he said, is leading a 44-state coalition against

“At the end of the day they get away with it because they’re too big to care.” WILLIAM TONG, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL

the companies, including Teva, the nation’s largest producer of generic prescription drugs.

He says the scheme cost consumers billions of dollars, as prices for routine prescription drugs have shot up by 1,000% and 2,000% in some cases.

Part of the answer to why generic drug prices are so high in this country is because drug companies have routinely manipulated the market and “at the end of the day they get away with it because they’re too big to care,” Tong said.

The state’s lawsuit is pending, along with a federal criminal investigation.

Meanwhile, both the state House and Senate have taken up measures to address rising costs. Both bodies have introduced bills addressing insulin costs. HB 5175, de la Cruz said, caps the cost of a 30-day supply of insulin, used to treat diabetes, at $50 and the cost of insulin and supplies to $500 per month. The measure is listed under Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 5175.

Conley said the House is discussing a measure that would allow the online purchase of prescription drugs from Canada. De la Cruz said the sad part about that is some of the drugs are actually manufactured in the U.S. but sell for much cheaper in Canada.

Dr. Jay Ginsberg, part of Saturday’s panel, said one of the most frustrating parts of his profession is watching a patient suffer the symptoms of an illness simply because the patient cannot afford the drug to treat it. A kidney specialist, Ginsberg said the biggest reasons patients reject kidney transplants is because they could not afford the follow-up drugs, which can cost $2,000 per month.

Retired primary care physician Dr. Christopher Morren said he has watched prices jump for the same drugs that have been used since the 1980s and ‘90s. Doxycycline, an antibiotic commonly used to treat Lyme disease, has gone from 6 cents per tablet in the 2000s to $3.65 per tablet. Albuterol, a bronchodilator used in inhalers, has jumped from $15 per cartridge in the 1990s to $90.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said, and the result of greed, not inflation.

Rotella said people shouldn’t be put in the position of having to spend their life savings for a life-saving drug.