March 21, 2016

New Dem Reps. Bera & Peters Praise FDA for Responding to Call to Help Lower the Price of Generic Drugs

Washington, DC – Last week New Dem Reps. Ami Bera (CA-07) and Scott Peters (CA-52) praised the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent decision to begin accelerating applications for generic drugs.

Bera and Peters led a letter with nearly 30 New Dems to the FDA last month, urging the agency to prioritize generic drug applications to stop irresponsible price-gouging as happened in the case of Turing Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli.

“I’m glad to see the FDA taking action to keep other irresponsible actors from charging exorbitant prices for drugs,” Bera said. “They are profiting off the scarcity of medications many people need and as a doctor I find this especially troubling. By speeding up the application process, more drugs can reach the market, ultimately lowering prices and ensuring patients can get the medications they need.”

“I applaud this commonsense step from the FDA to streamline the generic drug approval process and provide consumers with more affordable options. Access to generic drugs is especially important to the long-term and critically ill who would otherwise have nowhere else to turn when companies like Turing and Valeant choose to drive up prices.”

To view a copy of the letter, see here.

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