RFK Jr. Faces Criticism Over Drug Pricing

On Wednesday, April 22, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).

“In both hearings, Kennedy listed the work of the agency during his first 15 months leading it, saying it has ‘delivered historic wins.’ He mentioned negotiating drug prices, releasing the new Dietary Guidelines, expanding nutrition education in medical schools, the push to phase out petroleum-based food dyes, and the Rural Health Transformation Fund,” NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin and Carmel Wroth reported.

“Several senators asked about TrumpRx, the administration's new drug discount site,” Simmons-Duffin and Wroth wrote. “Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wanted to know why some of the drugs there cost more than prices available elsewhere.”

Kennedy responded: “President Trump has a different way of calculating, there’s two ways of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that’s a 600 percent reduction.”  The video clip of Kennedy’s response has since gone viral on X.

“By redefining the standard formula for percentage decreases, Kennedy attempted to bridge the gap between political messaging and statistical reality,” Catherine Armecin Martin wrote for the International Business Times UK. “However, the explanation only intensified questioning about the transparency of future health policy.”

“Democrats on the finance committee remained skeptical of the deals the Trump administration made with drug manufacturers to sell their products through TrumpRx, with Warren alleging that they made millions in tariff relief by working with the website,” Gabe Whisnant and Dan Gooding reported for Newsweek.