Pallone unveils new legislation to lower prescription drug prices.

Byline: Jessica Perry

At Boyt Drugs, an independent pharmacy in Metuchen, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-6th District, unveiled on Monday several policy solutions that he said would help encourage generic drugs and greater competition in the marketplace.

Pallone, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is in the process of advancing numerous bills designed to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

"The price of prescription drugs has skyrocketed in the last few years. It's the number one issue that people talk to me about," Pallone said. "If we don't start doing something to lower the price of prescription drugs we are going to see more and more people who need them who are not going to have them."

"We are going to move legislation in the energy and commerce committee that will come to the floor in the House of Representatives that addresses one aspect of the prescription drug industry and one way of trying to deal with the problem of high cost and that is generic competition."

Pallone said that a few years ago, his committee took steps to bring generic drugs to market and people recognized the value of generics as a way of bringing down costs.

"But unfortunately because the brand name companies have stepped in and done certain things, generics have not become as competitive and have not been as much of a factor in lowering the cost of prescription drugs as they could be. Part of what we are doing with these bills is to bring back generics as a major way of trying to lower costs by making generics more viable," Pallone said.

Pallone has several bills pending, including:

House Resolution 965, CREATES of 2019: The CREATES Act focuses on deterring brand drug manufacturers from using restricted distribution systems including safety protocols known as REMSto delay or impede generic competition on both the front end of generic drug development and the back end of market entry. The bill would allow a generic manufacturer facing delay tactics to bring an action in federal court to obtain the samples it needs.

House Resolution 985, the FAST Generics Act: Focuses on deterring brand drug manufacturers from using REMS and other restricted distribution systems to delay generic competition on the front end of generic drug development and the back end of market entry.

House Resolution 1499, Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019: This legislation would make it illegal for brand name and generic drug manufacturers to enter into...