It’s not just Democrats: In dueling drug pricing hearings, at least some Republicans slam pharma, too

WASHINGTON — Democrats here have, of late, been making far more noise about high prescription drug prices.

But at two dueling hearings on Tuesday, the most powerful Republicans on each committee made their own mark.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and a former chairman of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, kicked off his panel’s hearing by offering his support for a controversial proposal that would inflame drug makers: to potentially cut the lucrative exclusivity periods the government grants drug makers for their products.

And Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, used part of his own speaking time