Byron Dorgan: “This is Celebrex, widely advertised, used for pain, particularly arthritis. It is widely advertised all across this…”

“This is Celebrex, widely advertised, used for pain, particularly arthritis. It is widely advertised all across this country. The company that makes this markets it successfully, and good for them for helping produce this medicine. But let me describe the pricing strategy. If you buy this medicine, Celebrex, in Canada, you get it in this bottle, and it costs you 79 cents per tablet. Buy it in the United States, and you get it in this bottle which is essentially the same. So 79 cents for this prescription drug per tablet in Canada, but if you are a U.S. citizen, you pay $2.22. It is the same pill, made by the same company, put in the same bottle, FDA approved. The difference? The price. The U.S. consumer is told: You should pay nearly triple what a Canadian consumer is charged by the same company. Question: Why should we allow that to happen? Why should the U.S. consumer pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs that are sold at a fraction of the cost in virtually every other country of the world? The answer is: It should not continue to happen. We need to put downward pressure on prices in this country on prescription drugs. This is not about, as the pharmaceutical industry would allege, shutting off research and development if you put downward pressure on prices. That is nonsense.…”