Sanders Pushes for Lower Price for Heroin Overdose Drug
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/247659-sanders-pushes-for-lower-price-for-heroin-overdose-drugers-pushes-for-lower-price-for-heroin-overdose-drug
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on state governments to work to lower the price of a drug used to treat heroin overdoes.
The liberal presidential candidate challenging Hillary Clinton has joined Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, in pressing for action in what they say is a public health emergency.
“The opioid abuse epidemic is a public health emergency that must be addressed, and no company should jeopardize the progress many states have made in tackling this emergency by overcharging for a critically important drug like naloxone,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the National Governors Association and National Association of Attorneys General.
The lawmakers specifically are pressing for state governments to reach deals with Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, the maker of naloxone, a drug that reverses the depression of the central nervous system caused by heroin and other opioids.
The cost of naloxone has been rising, by as much as 50 percent according to an article in the New York Times.
In February, the New York attorney general announced an agreement with Amphastar to reduce by almost 20 percent the cost of the drug to law enforcement and public health officials in the state.
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