As part of the Democratic Party’s new “Better Deal” economic agenda, lawmakers are going after the high cost of prescription drugs by proposing a new “price gouging enforcer.” The enforcer would be confirmed by the U.S. Senate and direct a new agency designed to stop steep price increases such as the ones affecting anti-allergy medicine EpiPen in recent years.
But attorneys said the idea of a new prescription-drug czar may be a nonstarter. Private practice health care lawyers brought up issues of vagueness, chilling effects on innovation and increased costs, while questioning the effectiveness of the would-be program.
