Sen. Scott Questions Dr. Mehmet Oz at Confirmation Hearing

WASHINGTON — Recently, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), member of the Senate Finance Committee, questioned Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Senator Scott and Dr. Oz discussed a range of topics, including drug pricing, CRISPR technology, and telemedicine. 

Excerpts from Senator Scott’s questioning can be found below:

Watch the full video here.

On prescription drug pricing…

“We need to have a long conversation about how expensive drugs are these days, but at the same time, we should have a similar conversation about how when drugs hit that generic market, they dropped precipitously in price … I would hate to, for the lack of a better way of saying, shortchange the American people by focusing on the original sticker price without having the value proposition long-term over the ultimate cost of a drug, when it’s in the generic forms.”

On CRISPR technology and innovation…

“I do think that CRISPR technology as we know it today, is going to transform medicine as we know it tomorrow … I hope that you have a commitment, in your new position, to move forward with some of the cell and gene therapy access models that we’re talking about, making it affordable for people … on Medicare and Medicaid.”

On telemedicine…

“There’s a silver lining in Covid … It was the development and the acceleration of telemedicine. And I think it’s going to save millions, if not trillions of dollars over time. I hope that you are committed to doing as much investigation as necessary to make sure that telemedicine is not just here to stay, but that it is embraced, adopted throughout our country, wherever it is practical to be used.”

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