Drugmakers to Pay Billions for Wasted Drugs Under Senate Deal

Drugmakers Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Roche Holding AG could each be forced to repay the government $100 million annually for wasted medicines under the Senate infrastructure deal.

The $550 billion measure, which the Senate is debating this week, would require companies to refund Medicare when doctors throw away drugs, a move meant to push some drugmakers to stop overpacking single-use containers. The funds would offset part of the bill’s spending on roads and bridges.

Medicare paid $752.9 million for drugs that were discarded in 2019, according to government data. More than a third, or $286 million, of that spending came ...