Attorney General Bill Sorrell wants to know why the cost of many generic drugs has skyrocketed in the past few months.
If you have a prescription for a generic drug, you've probably noticed a sharp increase in the cost of the medication. In some cases, prices have increased by as much as one thousand percent overnight.
Rich Harvie is the co-owner of the Montpelier Pharmacy and the lead pharmacist at the store. He says the drug companies have failed to offer a reasonable explanation for the drastic spike in prices. One of his customers uses a special cream on a daily basis for his illness. The price jumped from $15 a tube to $172.
"That happened overnight. That's how things are changing — it's awful,” said Harvie. “And that was a life changing event for him because he's on a fixed income. So this is something that was very, very affordable to him [that] now is changing his life."
Attorney General Sorrell is heading up a coalition of attorneys general from around the country to investigate this situation.
"Each of us trying to get state-specific information on some very significant price spikes,” said Sorrell. “And sharing that information and seeing where it takes us."
"Each of us trying to get state-specific information on some very significant price spikes. And sharing that information and seeing where it takes us." - Attorney General Bill Sorrell
Sorrell has also been in touch with the Federal Trade Commission about these enormous price increases.
"And [I've] received assurances that these issues are on the screen for the Federal Trade Commission and [they] welcome interacting with the states," the Attorney General said.
Sorrell wants to know if there are good reasons for the increases or if the drug companies are involved in price collusion.
"So maybe [it's] illegal, maybe [it's] just price gouging that would be legal, depending on what we find,” said Sorrell. “But clearly [this is] something that state and federal government would want to address."
Sorrell says he wants to give the drug companies an opportunity to explain why the prices increases are happening. It might be difficult for Sorrell's group to get this information initially, because representatives of the three major generic drug companies refused to testify at a Congressional hearing last month chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sorrell says the attorneys general can take legal action to try to compel the companies to provide the information. He says he won't hesitate to take this step if the drug companies don't cooperate with this investigation.
