ICYMI: Grassley-Durbin WSJ Letter to the Editor: What RFK Jr. Gets Right on Big Pharma

WASHINGTON– In aWall Street Journalletter to the editor, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) welcomed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s support for enhanced transparency regarding direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription-drug advertisements. Grassley and Durbin are leadingbipartisan legislationto require price disclosures in DTC commercials.
President Trump recentlysignedan Executive Order to empower patients and increase price transparency.
Textof Grassley and Durbin’s letter to the editor follows:
We write in regard to the Jan. 2 article “What RFK Jr.’s Dislike for Drug TV Commercials Could Mean for the Ad Industry” (CMO Today), describing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s support for banning direct-to-consumer prescription-drug advertisements.
The U.S. Senate previously passed our bipartisan measure to require price disclosures in these commercials. In fact, the last Trump administration supported our legislation. A federal watchdog review we requested found that nearly two-thirds of Medicare’s drug spending is on a small handful of costly medications shown on TV.
We recently reintroduced our bipartisan bill to bring price transparency to prescription-drug advertising and put patients in the driver’s seat. By ending Big Pharma’s secrecy, patients will be empowered to make more informed choices. Drug corporations may also think twice about price increases or running commercials if they had to be honest about the cost.
We look forward to working with the second Trump administration on this.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa)
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