Letter to Honorable Darrell E. Issa, Chairman, and Honorable Elijah Cummings, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform - Cost of Cancer Drugs

Letter

Dear Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings:

I am writing to respectfully request that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform convene a hearing to examine the causes contributing to the alarming cost of cancer drugs. Regrettably, the average cost of these critical drugs has risen to over $100,000 per year and as a result, access to life-extending and life-saving cancer treatment has been increasingly denied to many cancer patients.

As you may know, on April 25, 2013, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) published in its weekly Blood Journal, a seminal report, entitled "Price of drugs for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), reflection of the unsustainable cancer drug prices: perspective of CML Experts", that included contributions from more than 100 international experts in CML. According to the ASH study, a variety of factors have contributed to the rising cost in cancer drug pricing, including price of the most recent similar drug on the market, the cost of bringing a drug to market, and geopolitical and socioeconomic dynamics unrelated to the cost of drug development. In addition, the report sets forth meaningful steps that we can take in order to lower the prices of these drugs, increase cancer drug accessibility, and maintain sounder health care policies in the long-term with respect to cancer drug treatment.

Prices for cancer drugs have for years been part of the healthcare cost debate. And the profits earned by pharmaceutical companies come under regular scrutiny. With the majority of drug research paid for with public funds, and federal regulatory guidelines being an important part of bringing these drugs to market, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has an important role in realizing how we might make these critical lifesaving drugs more affordable and accessible.

In the interest of a full and productive hearing, a range of witnesses representing the perspectives of the Food and Drug Administration, The Federal Trade Commission, the ASH and other cancer treatment professionals, and the pharmaceutical industry, would be helpful. I am sure our capable Committee staff could also add to that list.

Sincerely,

Stephen F. Lynch
Member of Congress

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