NEWS: Sanders Demands Affordable Inhalers for Children

The retail price of the most commonly prescribed inhaler for children is between $172 and $313

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement calling on Prasco Laboratories and GlaxoSmithKline to immediately cap the cost of the authorized generic of Flovent - the most commonly prescribed inhaler for children - at $35:

I'm very pleased that Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca have implemented a $35 cap on the cost of inhalers that Americans with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) need.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the largest manufacturer of inhalers, is also on track to cap the cost of their brand name products at no more than $35 by the end of the year - if not sooner.

These are all very positive steps in the right direction that are already saving millions of Americans with asthma and COPD hundreds of dollars every month.

In January, when the Senate HELP Committee that I chair first launched an investigation into the outrageously high price of inhalers, pharmaceutical companies were charging as much as $645 for inhalers in the United States - far higher than in any other country. Now, the cost of many of those inhalers is down to just $35 at the pharmacy counter.

The focus of the Senate HELP Committee investigation now turns to the crisis of infants and children with asthma who have been struggling to receive the inhalers they need.

Last year, GSK discontinued Flovent, the most commonly prescribed inhaler for children, and one of the only inhalers infants can use. Today, an authorized generic version of this inhaler is only sold by Prasco Laboratories as a result of an agreement with GSK.

Unfortunately, the retail price of this inhaler is between $172 and $313, and many insurance companies are refusing to cover it because the net price is more expensive than the brand name version of Flovent. Facing high prices and a lack of insurance coverage, families throughout the country are having a very difficult time purchasing inhalers for their children. The result: Pediatricians have observed a major increase in the number of children with asthma who have been admitted to hospitals. There are also reports that more children are dying. That is absolutely unacceptable. No child in America should be sick or die because their parents cannot afford or access the inhalers they need to breathe.

Today, I am calling on both Prasco Laboratories and GSK to immediately cap the cost of the authorized generic of Flovent at $35. These companies have a responsibility to make sure that children with asthma in America have access to the inhalers they need.

As the Chairman of the HELP Committee, I will continue to do everything I can to make sure that the American people no longer pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.