The CEO of Novo Nordisk is set to appear before a Senate panel Tuesday to be grilled on the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy, the popular drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity.
But health economists say it’s unlikely that congressional pressure will be the driving force to get the prices down.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, has established himself as a perennial critic of pharmaceutical companies during his time helming the committee. He initially had threatened to subpoena the president of Novo Nordisk, Doug Langa, to testify before the committee. The company ultimately agreed to send CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen to field questions on price.
