Davids-Reddy campaign in Kansas a prescription for debate on remedies to high drug prices

Prasanth Reddy, a physician and the Republican nominee in the 3rd congressional district, disagrees with incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharine Davids about merits of the Inflation Reduction Act, which featured opportunities to curtail drug prices of people enrolled in Medicare. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids praises the Inflation Reduction Act as a boost to the U.S. economy and a long overdue restraint on pharmaceutical drug prices.

Her opponent in the Nov. 5 election, Republican Prasanth Reddy, holds a contrary view. The physician said federal law endorsed by Davids was a wasteful outlay of tax dollars and included a flawed government-mandate approach to reeling in medicine costs.

Davids, the 3rd District Democrat first elected in 2018 and seeking a fourth term, said she voted for the law, in part, because it capped insulin costs at $35 per month for people on Medicare. It established an individual out-of-pocket drug expenditure cap for Medicare beneficiaries of $2,000 per year.

And, she said, the law allowed Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers to lower prices on 10 medicines in 2026. That list included drugs to prevent and treat blood clots, and to deal with heart failure, diabetes and arthritis. The label names included Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga and Fiasp or NovoLog.

“From capping insulin costs to allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, legislation I supported in Congress is providing significant savings and helping to ensure that our seniors have access to the affordable health care they need,” Davids said while visiting an Olathe senior living facility.

Reddy, the GOP nominee in the Kansas City-area district, has been critical of the Inflation Reduction Act. He said federal price caps could undermine research and development in the medical field. He said strategy of Democrats was flawed because not all drugs were created equally.

“As someone who has spent my life treating cancer patients and working in the pharmaceutical space, I understand firsthand the critical balance we need to strike between making lifesaving medications affordable and ensuring we continue to see innovation in the medical field. I fully support efforts to make drugs more accessible to Americans, but we must be cautious when it comes to government price controls,” said Reddy, who earned a medical degree at the University of Kansas.

He said negotiating to trim the cost of medicine by leveraging power of the Medicare or Medicaid programs was important, but forcing price reductions on the industry through heavy-handed government intervention could hurt patients in the long run.

“American pharmaceutical companies lead the world in drug breakthroughs, and we need to ensure that remains the case,” Reddy said. “Ultimately, what’s at stake is not just today’s drug prices but tomorrow’s cures.”

He said Congress should expand the production of generic drugs, including medications such as insulin. That would protect intellectual property rights, incentivize innovation and give patients access to affordable generics, he said.

In 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act on a 51-50 vote, with all Democrats voting in favor, all Republicans voting against and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, both Kansas Republicans, voted against the bill.

It was adopted by the U.S. House on a 220-207 vote, with Davids and all Democrats for it. Every House Republican against it, including Kansas GOP U.S. Reps. Ron Estes, Jake LaTurner and Tracey Mann. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

During the Reddy-Davids campaign, an issue has been made of Reddy’s 2023 financial disclosure statement that indicated he owned as much as $651,000 in stock in pharmaceutical and laboratory science companies like LabCorp. Davids’ campaign said she didn’t possess drug company stock.

Reddy, a cancer physician, reported receiving $78,000 in consulting fees, travel, lodging and dining payments from drug or medical device companies in the past.

Reddy’s congressional campaign raised more than $400,000 from political interests aligned with pharmaceutical companies opposed to capping the price of insulin for seniors.

“It’s clear Kansans can’t trust Prasanth Reddy to cut drug costs when he’s been paid by the very companies raising them,” said Zac Donley, a spokesperson for Davids. “While Reddy is cozy with Big Pharma, Sharice Davids is standing up to these large drug companies and working to lower prescription prices for Kansas families.”

Reddy, of Lenexa, is a board-certified physician in internal medicine, oncology and hematology. He practiced medicine in academia, private practice and managed care settings. He was senior vice president and global head of enterprise oncology at Labcorp from 2021 until July 2023, and also was vice president of medical affairs at Foundation Medicine.

The third candidate on the 3rd District ballot is Libertarian nominee Steve Roberts, who was a member of the Kansas State Board of Education from 2013 to 2021.