Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wants answers from pharmaceutical CEOs about why Americans are charged substantially more for some drugs than are residents of other countries. And he’s prepared to issue subpoenas to get them. 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which Sanders chairs, will vote Wednesday on whether to subpoena Johnson & Johnson chief Joaquin Duato and Merck head Robert Davis, both of whom declined requests in November to testify before the panel.

If authorized, they would be the first subpoenas issued by the committee since 1981.

During a news conference at the Capitol on Thursday, Sanders said he wants to know why there is such a large disparity in drug prices, which is leaving many Americans unable to afford medication they’ve been prescribed. Meanwhile, he complained, top pharmaceutical companies are raking in more than $100 billion in annual profits, paying their CEOs tens of millions of dollars each year, spending billions more on stock buybacks and flooding Washington with lobbyists. 

“These are the questions that are in the minds of many elderly people in our country,” Sanders said. “Working people go to the drugstore, can't afford the prescription drugs that they desperately need.”

The Democratic-led committee also invited Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner to testify in November. He has agreed to appear alongside at least one of the other chief executives.

A July poll by KFF, a nonprofit organization focused on health policy, found that 28% of people taking prescription drugs said it was difficult for them to afford their medications. 

Sanders listed several examples of how Americans face higher price tags on medication. The Merck diabetes drug Januvia costs about $6,000 in the U.S., but just $200 in France, he said. Imbruvica, a Johnson & Johnson drug for blood cancer, sells for around $204,000 in the U.S., but $43,000 in Germany, Sanders said. And U.S. patients pay $6,700 for the Bristol Myers Squibb blood thinner Eliquis, while the French pay $650. 

“The pharmaceutical industry is an enormously powerful political force in America,” Sanders said. “Maybe next to Wall Street, they are the most powerful. They don't lose. The reason we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs is because they can charge us almost anytime any price they want.”

The Vermont senator said elevated drug prices also contribute to higher hospital bills and insurance premiums. Taxpayers, meanwhile, are on the hook for higher Medicare and Medicaid costs, he added.

Sanders said he wants Congress to pass legislation lowering drug prices but it might require building public pressure on the companies to make that happen.

Both Merck and Johnson & Johnson have offered to send other executives to testify who they say have greater expertise to answer questions about the issues Sanders has raised. They have also suggested Sanders is targeting the CEOs because the three companies have filed lawsuits challenging the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s provision allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of some medicines.

In a letter to Sanders earlier this month, Jennifer Zachary, Merck executive vice president and general counsel, cited the timing of Sanders’ request — just after news coverage about the lawsuits — and the senator’s public criticism of the litigation. 

“Retaliation may be a way to chill disfavored speech, but it is not a valid basis upon which to hold a constructive hearing,” Zachary wrote.

“This targeting seems unlikely to be coincidental, and it raises significant concerns that the hearing is intended as retribution for the companies’ decisions to exercise their rights to challenge a statute that inappropriately infringes on constitutionally protected freedoms,” Brian Smith, an attorney representing Johnson & Johnson wrote to Sanders.

Sanders on Thursday called the allegation “absurd.”

“These companies have every right to file a lawsuit against the administration or anyone else,” he said.

Sanders also said he finds the companies’ claims that their CEOs cannot answer questions about pricing laughable. 

“Maybe, just maybe, the CEOs of these pharmaceutical companies should become experts on why they're ripping off the American people,” the senator said.

Smith argued in his letter that Johnson & Johnson does not have the ability to control the prices of certain drugs in every country. 

In a statement to Spectrum News, Smith said there’s no reason for the HELP Committee to subpoena Duato because Johnson & Johnson has cooperated with the panel by offering another executive. 

In her letter to Sanders, Merck’s Zachary wrote it is essential for the prescription drug industry to provide “access to affordable medicines without discouraging the development of innovative and lifesaving prescription drugs.”

“As a result of research and development, the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry has been responsible for delivering important biomedical breakthroughs,” she wrote. “These include new medicines and vaccines to treat life-threating conditions and prevent disease.”

Speaking at Thursday’s Capitol news conference, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., chair of the HELP Committee’s Subcommittee on Primary Health & Retirement Security, said, “Innovation that costs so much that it puts hope out of reach instead of putting it into the hands of families isn't really innovation at all.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the top Republican on the HELP Committee, has argued that Sanders has not been willing to work with Republicans on the issue.

“I hope the HELP Committee can return to its longstanding tradition of bipartisan cooperation, rather than focusing on how many CEOs we can drag to the stocks,” Cassidy said in a statement. 

“It’s not surprising these CEOs do not expect to be given a fair shake by this committee,” he said. “These companies offered to send their executives in charge of the policies in question, which could have led to a more insightful hearing.”

Note: This article was updated to correct the name of KFF, which no longer uses the name Kaiser Family Foundation. This article was also updated to include more recent polling data from KFF than what was originally published.