Senators ask CEOs why their drugs cost so much more in the U.S.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, pressed executives from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck and Johnson & Johnson about the prices they charge for drugs in the U.S. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Sparks flew on Capitol Hill Thursday as the CEOs of three drug companies faced questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions about why drug prices are so much higher in the United States than they are in the rest of the world.

The executives from Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Merck spent almost three hours in front of the committee going back and forth about pricing practices and how the companies spend their money.