Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width Standard Wide Links Standard Orange Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav The Trump administration is delaying the release of TrumpRx, an online platform that lets people buy prescription drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies at a discount, according to Politico. While the reason for the delay is unclear, it comes as Democratic senators raise questions about how the platform will workand whether it will be legal. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent a letter to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday seeking answers on how the OIG will oversee the direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform and, specifically, how it will apply the anti-kickback statute. Legitimate concerns about inappropriate prescribing, conflicts of interest, and inadequate care have been raised about the exact types of DTC platforms to which TrumpRx would route patients, the senators write. To date, details on how TrumpRx will work have not been provided, and Congress oversight requests have gone unanswered by HHS. However, Durbin and other senators have spent months investigating DTC websites. They found that they sometimes allow consumers to pre-select prescription drugs they would like to take, then connect with telehealth providersthat may be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by big pharmaceutical companies that make the drugswho prescribe
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