Gilbert Gutknecht: “I rise again to talk about an issue that we are all painfully aware of and more and more of my colleagues are concerned…”

“I rise again to talk about an issue that we are all painfully aware of and more and more of my colleagues are concerned about, and that we are going to have to deal with here in the next several days in the Congress, and that is the high cost of prescription drugs. I brought with me again this chart, and I would like to show to my colleagues what we are really talking about in terms of the prices that Americans pay relative to people in other parts of the world. These numbers are not my numbers. They were put together by a group called the Life Extension Foundation. I want to point out a couple that I find interesting. Glucophage, a very commonly prescribed drug for diabetes, one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. In the United States, a 30-day supply, according to Life Extension Foundation, sells for about $124.65. That same drug made in the same FDA-approved facility in Europe sells for $22. $22. We are not talking about Mexico; we are talking about Europe. The list goes on and on, and, for example, tomorrow we are going to have a vote, I think, here on the floor of the House about trade, about trade promotion authority. We are going to give our negotiators a little more latitude in negotiating with the Senate. I happen to believe in trade. I believe in free and fair trade. But this is one area where American consumers could benefit enormously.”