Cummings plans to call pharma executives to testify about drug costs

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he plans to call drug company executives to testify when the House returns from recess in September.

Cummings made the announcement at the end of an emotional hearing Friday about the impact of high drug costs on patients.

“I want to tell you, this may make you feel some hope: We’re going to have the drug company folks sitting in the same seats as soon as we come back,” Cummings told witnesses. “And we’re going to try to understand some of why they’re doing what they’re doing.”{mosads}

A committee spokesperson did not have any details on which companies Cummings plans to invite or when the hearing will be scheduled. House lawmakers on Thursday held the chamber’s last votes before a lengthy August recess.  

Rising drug prices have been a central concern for Cummings. The committee launched a wide-ranging investigation into high drug costs in January, and has examined documents obtained from drugmakers. But pharmaceutical executives have not yet testified.

In April, Cummings accused the panel’s ranking member, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), of obstructing the investigation after Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) warned a dozen different drug company executives that Cummings was conducting a partisan investigation, essentially telling them not to participate.

Drug company executives were grilled by Senate Finance Committee members earlier this year, as a prelude to the panel’s drug pricing legislation, which was introduced this week. The executives blamed insurers and pharmacy benefit managers for high drug costs.