Asthma inhaler investigation overview:
- Who: A group of senators on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions are seeking an investigation into high asthma inhaler prices.
- Why: Americans with asthma pay significantly higher prices for inhalers than patients in Europe, and the senators have asked the drug makers to justify the high U.S. prices.
- Where: The asthma inhaler investigation involves asthma inhalers sold in the U.S.
A group of U.S. senators announced their plan to investigate asthma inhaler prices to find out why Americans pay much higher prices for inhalers than their European counterparts, Law360 reports.
Senators Bernie Sanders, Tammy Baldwin, Ben Ray Jujan and Edward J. Markey sent letters dated Jan. 8 to pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline and Teva Pharmaceuticals seeking more information about how they set their asthma inhaler prices.
The senators are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Sanders is the committee chair.
“There is no rational reason, other than greed, as to why GlaxoSmithKline charges $319 for Advair HFA in the United States but just $26 for the same inhaler in the United Kingdom,” Sanders said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable that Teva is charging Americans with asthma $286 for its QVAR RediHaler that costs just $9 in Germany,” he continued. “It is beyond absurd that Boehringer Ingelheim charges $489 for Combivent Respimat in the United States, but just $7 in France.”
Senators seek justification for high asthma inhaler prices
According to the asthma inhaler investigation letters, more than 20 million adults and 4.5 million children have asthma in the United States, most of whom need inhalers to help them breathe.
The senators claim that there is “no reason for inhalers to be so expensive,” as they have been around for decades and most of the active ingredients have been on the market for more than 25 years.
They suspect the pharmaceutical companies are manipulating the regulatory system to reduce access to generic asthma inhalers, which could substantially drive down prices. Brand-name drug manufacturers allegedly make minor changes to their inhaler products even though they contain the same active ingredients and seek additional patents to prevent competition from generic products.
Current law allows pharmaceutical companies to sue manufacturers of generic medications who challenge their patents, which results in an automatic two-and-a-half-year delay for approval of the generic medication, the senators’ letters to the drugmakers explain.
The asthma inhaler investigation seeks more information about how the drugmakers decide to make changes to their inhalers and how they decide to move patients toward new products, which the letters suggest are common anti-competitive tactics. The senators also asked the drug makers for more information about the purported benefits of their new products over their old ones.
Last summer, Cipla recalled six batches of albuterol inhalers because the containers had a defect that could cause the medication to leak, preventing patients from receiving a full dose.
What do you think about the senators’ asthma inhaler investigation? Join the discussion in the comments.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
17 thoughts onSenators launch investigation into high asthma inhaler prices
YES they Need to investigate and Big pharma should not have been able to do this! I could NOT afford some the DR put me on but still had to purchase these others to be able to BREATHE! I’m low income and it is tough as is for many many of us so price gouging is WRONG, WRONG WRONG!
Have been using them over 30 years and prices have gotten higher and medicine is getting lower grade. Add me please and thank you
I totally agree with the price fixing issue on both Advair and Ventolin Inhalers. Having worked in the pharmacy business for almost 30 years, it is unthinkable how Americans are SCREWED by drug companies here for their products. Having taken the generic Advair twice, and both times ended up with pneumonia, it is not acceptable to me to be deprived financially of a drug that doesn’t cost anywhere near what manufacturers charge us here. When we moved to AZ in 1993, we had no health insurance. We drove to Mexico and picked up 2 VENTOLIN inhalers in a “pharmacia” for $5.00 each! It wasn’t even behind the counter! It was on a shelf like a bottle of Tylenol would be. So please, do the humane thing and end this price gouging with both VENTOLIN and ADVAIR. They generics do not work for everyone…..and it is inhumane for drug companies to gouge Americans. Thank you!
Not only did they jack the prices up the generic brands do not work as well as the non generic ones and causes the patient to use more of the product so they will need to buy more .and leaving asthmatics with out an inhaler until they can afford a nother prescription.costing more gas to dr visits and taking more money out of the consumer’s pockets..
This has been happening for at least 12 years with me because it is manditory for me to breath from copd so add me to your list.