CEOs of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) defended the high prices of their drugs as they were grilled by the Senate Health Committee, led by Senator Bernie Sanders who submitted a report blasting the extravagant cost of three drugs.
“Merck began selling a vial of Keytruda in 2015 at an annual cost of $147,000 in the U.S. and $132,000 in Germany. While Keytruda now costs just $89,000 in Germany, it costs more than twice as much in the U.S. at $191,000,” the report reads.
Sanders mentioned a woman in Nebraska who died of cancer after setting up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for Keytruda.
Another example in the document includes Bristol-Myers blood thinner Eliquis, which had an annual cost of $3,100 in the US in 2013, compared to $1,000 in Japan, which dropped to $900 in Japan and climbed to $7,100 in the US.
Sanders accused companies of profiting at the expense of patients’ lives, reports the …
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