STAT+: Merck CEO refused to testify in Senate because he’s not an expert in drug pricing, Bernie Sanders says
Merck's CEO told Sen. Bernie Sanders he wouldn't testify in the Senate because he’s not an expert in drug prices.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday jabbed the CEO of Merck for telling congressional staff that he didn’t have the expertise to testify at a Senate hearing on prescription drug prices because he’s a tax attorney.
Sanders, who has threatened to subpoena the CEOs of Merck and Johnson & Johnson over their refusal to testify at a hearing on why drug prices are higher in the United States than other countries, told reporters the reasons the companies gave ranged from “laughable” to “absurd.”
“Merck went so far, this is really interesting, to tell our staff that their CEO is a tax attorney who is not an expert on prescription drug prices. … Well, maybe, just maybe, the CEOs of these pharmaceutical companies should become experts on why they are ripping off the American people,” Sanders said.
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