The Hill: Drug companies that violate law would fund medical research under new Democratic legislation

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have introduced legislation that would require pharmaceutical companies that have entered settlement agreements over violating federal law to invest a portion of their profits into key agencies.

Titled the "Medical Innovation Act," the bill would apply to large drugmakers that are found to have violated federal laws and also have received federal funding that helped them develop what the bill calls "blockbuster drugs." The legislation defines these drugs as those that had net sales of at least $1 billion in the previous calendar year.

Funds collected through this legislation would go toward initiatives in the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. Companies would be required to invest a percentage of their profits into these federal health agencies for five years.

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