Chuck Grassley: “This is the Drug Competition Act of 2003. I filed it as an amendment to S. 1. I do it in a bipartisan way with Senator…”

“This is the Drug Competition Act of 2003. I filed it as an amendment to S. 1. I do it in a bipartisan way with Senator Leahy and many others. Our amendment will help Federal regulators ensure that antitrust laws are not being violated and that there is full and unfettered access to competition for prescription drugs under the law. What I want to do is make sure American consumers--and in the case of prescription drugs for Medicare, senior citizens--are able to get the lifesaving drugs they need and to do it in a competitive manner with resulting lower prices. Our patent laws provide drug companies with incentives to invest in the research and development of new drugs, but the law also provides that generic drug companies have the ability to get their own drugs on the market so there can be price competition and lower prices for prescription drugs. We have a legal system in place that provides such a balance; that is, the Hatch-Waxman law. Ultimately, we want consumers and seniors to have more choices and to get drugs at lower prices. So I was concerned when I heard reports that the Federal Trade Commission had brought enforcement actions against brand-name and generic drug manufacturers that had entered into anticompetitive agreements, resulting in the delay of the introduction of lower priced drugs. Our amendment targets this problem.”