Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded answers Wednesday from the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the cost to taxpayers of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals’ drug Firdapse.

Catalyst recently announced an annual list price of $375,000 for the medication, which patients previously received for free from Jacobus Pharmaceutical.

“I am writing to request information regarding the price Catalyst Pharmaceuticals will charge Medicare and Medicaid for Firdapse…and the impact this price will have on patients with LEMS and taxpayers,” Sanders wrote to Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “It is abundantly clear that Catalyst expects taxpayers, primarily through Medicare and Medicaid, to foot the bill for its price gouging,”

According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings for 2018, Catalyst conducted market research and determined that “most LEMS patients have insurance coverage,” including approximately “40 percent Medicare, Medicaid, [and] 10 percent dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.” Read More

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