WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Turing Pharmaceuticals, requesting information about a significant and recent price increase for a drug used to treat a life-threatening parasitic infection.

In their letter today, Sanders and Cummings requested information about the price increase and restrictions on distribution for a 62-year-old drug Daraprim. “This dramatic price increase will have a direct impact on patients’ ability to purchase their needed medications,” they wrote. The price increase from $13.50 a tablet to $750 a tablet was reported in The New York Times yesterday.

“The enormous, overnight price increase for Daraprim is just the latest in a long list of skyrocketing price increases for certain critical medications,” Sanders and Cummings said. “Without fast access to this drug, used to treat a very serious parasitic infection, patients may experience organ failure, blindness or death. Americans should not have to live in fear that they will die or go bankrupt because they cannot afford to take the life-saving medication they need.”

The members requested that Turing provide information by October 9, including total gross revenues from sales of this drug; prices paid for all sales of this drug; the prices of this drug in foreign markets; and the identity of company officials responsible for setting the price of this drug.

Click here to see the letter to Turing Pharmaceuticals.