Congress has launched an investigation into huge increases in the prices of 10 generic drugs that prompted complaints from consumers and pharmacists.
Lawmakers want generic drug makers to explain the reasons for the large price hikes in generic drugs -- the cost of some has climbed more than 1,000 percent in the last year -- or possibly face new regulations, The New York Times reported.
"Generic drugs were meant to help make medications affordable for the millions of Americans who rely on prescriptions to manage their health needs," investigation co-leader Senator Bernard Sanders, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, said in a statement. "We've got to get to the bottom of these enormous price increases."
Generic drugs are used to fill more than eight in 10 prescriptions in the U.S., according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Data released by the lawmakers shows a number of huge price hikes. For example, The cost to hospitals and pharmacies for a bottle of 500 tablets of the antibiotic doxycycline rose from $20 in October 2013 to $1,849 in April 2014, The Times reported.
The price of the cholesterol-lowering drug pravastatin increased from $27 to $196 over the same time, and the per-pill price of the heart medicine digoxin rose from 11 cents in 2012 to $1.10 this summer.
The lawmakers sent letters to the 14 companies that make or distribute the 10 generic drugs under investigation, asking them to explain the price increases. The companies have until Oct. 23 to respond, The Times reported.