Congressman Ben McAdams is supporting a bipartisan bill to tackle one of the major causes of rising health care costs—the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. T
he bipartisan Creating and Restoring Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act –H.R. 965—would help generic drug makers get access to samples of brand-name drugs in a timely manner.
“Prescription drugs play a critical role in helping prevent, manage and cure various conditions and diseases, and yet the costs are straining family budgets and increasing taxpayer costs. One common sense step is to get more generic drugs, which cost less, into the market. This bill addresses an outrageous action by some brand-name drug companies to unfairly block generics.”
McAdams says that generic drug manufacturers must receive drug samples to develop their generic alternatives and secure FDA approval. But some drug companies have denied access to these samples, using a technical loophole. The brand-name drug maker can remain the sole gatekeeper for a generic competitor attempting to enter the market – even after the patent expires.
“The CREATES Act provides an efficient path for generic drug manufacturers facing this delay tactic to bring legal action in order to receive the necessary drug samples for testing,” said McAdams. “With the cost of prescription drugs increasing dramatically, we need to take steps now so that patients have affordable options and drug companies aren’t allowed to unfairly profit on the illness and suffering of patients.”
