In the wake of reports that drugmakers raised prices by as much as 9 percent, on average, this year, the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting a report on recent trends in prescription drug pricing. The letter also requests that GAO submit a proposal to ensure ongoing monitoring of pricing practices (back story).

The price hikes came as health care reform legislation was crafted, suggesting drugmakers raised prices in anticipation that a bill would hurt their ability to raise prices in the future. The letter was signed by Charles Rangel, who chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee; Henry Waxman, whos chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee; Pete Stark, who chairs the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee; and John Lewis, who chairs the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee. All are Democrats.

In a statement this morning, PhRMA senior vp Ken Johnson says: “It’s pretty obvious that the calls to hold hearings or involve GAO are based on the misleading use of statistics and sensationalized media reports.” He cites these stats, among others: the Consumer Price Index shows drug prices rose 2.7 percent during the 12-month period ending in September, which he says is half of the 5.4 percent cited by AARP in media reports. And financial results for nearly a dozen drugmakers show zero revenue growth in the third quarter and -3 percent year to date.

In a recent comment to Pharmalot, PhRMA senior vp Ken Johnson wrote that: “In truth, price increases are the natural result of market forces…As we enter the homestretch of the health care debate, there are going to be a lot of last-minute political attacks designed to sabotage reform. We believe smart, common-sense Americans will be able to differentiate between the lies, damn lies and statistics.”