Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, at Thursday's Senate Appropriations hearing (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

Sen­a­tors lam­bast new Alzheimer’s drug’s price but give Janet Wood­cock a free pass on the ap­proval de­ci­sion

Sen­ate Fi­nance De­moc­rats took aim at Bio­gen’s pricey new Alzheimer’s drug on Thurs­day, but mem­bers on both sides of the aisle at a sep­a­rate ap­pro­pri­a­tions hear­ing didn’t ques­tion act­ing FDA com­mis­sion­er Janet Wood­cock on the ap­proval.

“I was ap­palled that Bio­gen priced their Alzheimer’s drug ap­proved by the FDA at $56,000 per year — I’m not go­ing to de­bate whether this is ef­fec­tive or not, but it’s dou­ble the house­hold me­di­an in­come for Michi­gan­ders over the age of 65,” Sen. Deb­bie Stabenow (D-MI) said at the fi­nance hear­ing.

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