Sticker shock: Rep. Cummings to investigate $44K prescription
On Monday, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Elijah Cummings demanded to know why prescription Resveratrol, a non-FDA approved nutritional supplement, costs as much as a BMW convertible.
Rep. Cummings' questions come following a CBS News investigation that found a pharmacy in Los Angeles submitted claim for a one-month supply of the supplement for the staggering price of more than $44,000.
In letters to Warner West, the pharmacy that submitted the claim, andCVS/Caremark, the prescription benefit manager that approved it, Cummings demanded answers.
"If these reports are accurate, they raise a host of troubling questions about how this could have occurred--and whether it is still occurring on a much wider scale," Cummings wrote.
CBS News' investigation found that around the same time Warner West Pharmacy submitted a $44,707 claim to insurance for Resveratrol, it offered the exact same prescription for a cash price of about $600 dollars.
Following questions from CBS News, Warner West Pharmacy reversed the claim and told the patient who received it they could keep the supplement for free.