Senate committee invites 7 pharmaceutical companies to hearing on prescription drug prices News
©Wikimedia (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
Senate committee invites 7 pharmaceutical companies to hearing on prescription drug prices

The US Senate Finance Committee on Monday invited seven major pharmaceutical companies to the second in a series of hearings exploring the high prices of prescription drugs.

Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Ron Wyden sent the invitations to AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Pfizer and Sanofi. Some of those companies were invited to the first hearing in January but declined to testify. introduced three pieces of legislation to the Senate focused on regulating prescription drug prices. The three bills—the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act and the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act—aim to lower prescription drug prices for Americans by implementing government price controls and oversight. The bills are estimated to save the US around $360 billion across 10 years.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.