A U.S. senator is trying to lower prices for medicines that are discovered with taxpayer dollars, and his effort amounts to a new twist to unraveling a complicated controversy that has embroiled the U.S. Department of Defense, large drug makers, numerous lawmakers, and consumer groups.
Late last month, Angus King (I-Maine) successfully added an amendment to a Defense Department funding bill that consumer groups say would effectively allow an end run around drug makers that priced products — which were developed with taxpayer dollars — higher than what is charged in seven other countries. The trigger would be determined by median prices and per capita income compared with the U.S.
The move comes amid heightened debate over the extent to which companies should be permitted to profit from medical inventions that are funded — at least, in part — with U.S. taxpayer dollars.
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