Wyden, Senate Democrats Reveal Trump Fakery on Lower Prescription Drug Costs, Introduce Legislation to Force Disclosure of Terms with Big Pharma

Wyden, Senate Democrats Reveal Trump Fakery on Lower Prescription Drug Costs, Introduce Legislation to Force Disclosure of Terms with Big Pharma

New Report Shows that Trump's Oval Office Events with Big Pharma CEOs Resulted in Sweetheart Deals for Giant Corporations, Not Lower Prices for American Families

Senators Introduce Legislation to Reveal Terms of These Agreements and Mandate Independent Accounting of Whether Everyday Americans Will Benefit At All

Text of the Report (PDF) / One-Page Summary of the Drug Deal Disclosure Act

Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and 17 Senate Democrats today unveiled legislation to force the Trump administration to disclose the terms of deals signed with more than a dozen of the largest pharmaceutical companies, and conduct an independent analysis to determine whether American families will actually see lower prices from the deals. The legislation comes as Wyden releases a report showing that these agreements are sweetheart deals for Big Pharma, providing tax breaks, regulatory relief, and exemption from Trump's other attempts to lower drug prices.

"There is no greater fraud when it comes to lower prescription drug prices than Donald J. Trump," Wyden said. "After spending the last year parading Big Pharma CEOs through the Oval Office, all Trump has to show for it are a handful of sweetheart deals that shower goodies on these companies while Americans continue paying high prices for medicines they count on. If these deals are so great, why is the Trump administration afraid of showing them to the public? Because Trump is a giant fraud when it comes to lower drug prices."

The Drug Deal Disclosure Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release the details of the deals struck between drug manufacturers and the Trump Administration, including all documentation associated with the agreements, and instructs the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office to co-author and publish a comprehensive analysis of the economic and budgetary impacts of all disclosed agreements so that the American people can confidently assess the extent to which these deals save patients and taxpayers money.

Senators joining Wyden in the introduction of the Drug Deal Disclosure Act include Senators Peter Welch, D-Vt.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

Wyden's report, "Trump's Big Pharma Giveaway," details how, absent further transparency, Trump's drug deals are a sham that benefits pharmaceutical corporations while offering little to no savings to patients and their families. Any potential savings for state Medicaid programs are unknown and likely to be minimal, and there is no evidence that companies will lower launch prices for their drugs.

Meanwhile, drug companies that inked these deals report that they are receiving tariff relief, exemption from Trump's other half-baked Medicare initiatives designed to create price parity with other nations, and Priority Review Vouchers to get their products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faster. Finally, TrumpRx is failing to deliver the lower prices that Trump promised, with nearly two thirds of the drugs on TrumpRx available for equivalent or cheaper prices elsewhere. The vast majority of Americans with health insurance get these products for a far lower cost already.

Wyden has led the effort to spotlight Trump's smoke and mirrors when it comes to lower drug prices. He asked every company who reached these so-called deals to disclose how the agreements will benefit the company and how it will lower costs for taxpayers and families.

The text of Wyden's report is here.

A one-page summary of the Drug Deal Disclosure Act is here. The text of the bill is here.

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