Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, called for Europe to pay more for prescription drugs on Newsmax on Tuesday, arguing that Americans unfairly shoulder the burden of pharmaceutical research and development.
Grassley said the United States should not continue carrying the global cost of developing lifesaving medications while people in other countries, particularly those in Europe, pay far less.
"Why should the American consumer pay for most of the research for miracle drugs?" Grassley told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
"Even if we do all the research, it seems like other countries, particularly the wealthy countries of Europe as an example, ought to kick into that research by paying higher prices for their drugs."
"And that can replace [the] money [difference] if we had cheaper drugs in the United States," he added.
Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said European countries can negotiate lower drug prices by purchasing in bulk through government agencies, unlike the more market-driven system in the U.S.
"They get prices down, and the companies make a little bit of profit, but I don't imagine much," he said. "So then they [drug companies] get their money from the American consumer, and they argue that they need that money for research."
His remarks came the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing examining the role of pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, in the prescription drug supply chain.
Grassley criticized the lack of transparency in PBM operations.
"Nobody knows what they do," he said. "They're an entirely opaque operation. We don't know whether they help the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the PBMs themselves, the local pharmacists, or the consumer."
Grassley emphasized the need for reform and transparency to bring prices down.
"Transparency brings accountability," he said. "If we get this stuff out in the public, and you know how the deals are made and who's making the money, we're going to have cheaper drugs."
He added that if transparency alone doesn't lead to lower prices, "then we'll take further action later on."
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