Vitter: Supreme Court Decision on Prescription Drugs "Pay for Delay" is Major Step to Lowering Prices

Statement

U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) today reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis et al. to allow for brand name drugmakers to be sued for paying rivals to keep cheaper prescription drugs off the market longer, a practice called "pay for delay."

"While "pay for delay" deals create obvious challenges for seniors and their families, it was unfortunately becoming the norm. "Pay for delay" is a win-win deal for brand-name drug companies and generic manufacturers, but it comes at the expense of patients -- often times seniors," Vitter said. "This Supreme Court decision is very encouraging and a major step in the right direction toward ending pay for delay practices entirely."

Vitter and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) have introduced legislation this Congress that would end the practice of pay for delay deals. In preliminary analysis, CBO projected that enacting their legislation would bring generics to market faster and save American consumers and the federal government billions of dollars.

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