{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://neal.house.gov/2025/12/18/democratic-health-leaders-demand-answers-on-trumps-shady-drug-deals/", "Democratic Health Leaders Demand Answers on Trump\u2019s Shady Drug Deals", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Richard E. Neal", "N000015", "neal.house.gov", "neal", "https://neal.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "After another Trump announcement that lacks transparency or any detail, Committee Leaders press major pharmaceutical companies on whether agreements actually lower prices for medications or just enrich Trump\u2019s family\n\nWASHINGTON, DC\u2014 Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (D-VA), and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) demanded transparency from major pharmaceutical companies on their announcements with the Trump Administration on the cost of certain medications, including anti-obesity medications.\n\nDemocrats delivered on lower drug prices for the American people by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, with those savings going into effect in January. These latest announcements from the Trump Administration are just that \u2013 announcements. The Administration has yet to provide any public information that the announcements will result in any real savings for consumers. In fact, economists have questioned whether consumers will see any meaningful benefits. The public deserves answers on this and a better understanding of what this means for their everyday costs.\n\nThe letters, sent to AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer, request more information on the contours of the agreements, including the effects on Medicare, future pricing predictions, the parameters of the TrumpRx platform, along with any other benefits the companies are receiving from the Administration as a result of these agreements.\n\n\u201cWhile President Trump has made misleading and false claims to the American public with rhetoric around lowering drug prices, in reality, actions taken by the Administration thus far have yielded little, and in some cases have raised prices for consumers,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cSkepticism and scrutiny are warranted as the Trump Administration has repeatedly made announcements that fail to meet their stated goals, and instead, only increase costs on the consumer, and yield benefits for the Trump family and Administration.\u201d\n\n\u201cCongress and the American people remain in the dark about the contours of [these] agreement[s] with the Trump Administration,\u201d the lawmakers continued in their letters to the pharmaceutical companies. \u201cBasic details about the agreement have yet to be confirmed by either [party], making it seem that both parties are attempting to shield themselves from oversight, accountability, and specifics that could inform consumers whether the agreement will save money.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers gave the companies until January 5, 2026, to respond.\n\nThe letter to AstraZeneca is HERE.\n\nThe letter to Eli Lilly is HERE.\n\nThe letter to Novo Nordisk is HERE.\n\nThe letter to Pfizer is HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://neal.house.gov/2025/12/18/democratic-health-leaders-demand-answers-on-trumps-shady-drug-deals/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.145409816876054, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}