US: Senators want FTC to investigate saline shortage

A bipartisan group of US senators wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether saline solution suppliers have violated antitrust laws by raising prices during a product shortage.

The senators want the FTC to look into “whether saline suppliers may be taking advantage of this shortage in ways that run afoul of antitrust law and pose risks to patient care.”

The solution, which is used to hydrate patients, has been on the Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage list since 2014.

“The shortage is still ongoing after nearly two years, raising questions about the incentives of the saline suppliers to solve this problem and about possible coordination among them,” the senators wrote in their letter Monday.

The lawmakers behind the letter include Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), former Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who are members of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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