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Staggering hikes  — in some cases higher than 5000% — in prices of prescription drugs threaten the health and economic stability of Americans who can't afford vital medicines, a congressional report warned Wednesday. The findings by the Senate Special on Aging summarize the panel's 2016 investigation of records from four pharmaceutical companies and public hearings that focused on sudden price spikes in decades-old medications and the pricing decisions imposed by drug industry entrepreneur Martin Shkreli and other industry executives. (McCoy, 12/21)

In the wake of mounting anger over prescription drug costs, a new report by a Senate committee recommends several steps — such as accelerating regulatory review for generics and temporarily allowing imports — to blunt the financial impact that sudden price hikes are having on Americans. The report from the Senate Special Committee on Aging follows a year-long probe into several well-publicized instances in which drug makers — notably, Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Turing Pharmaceuticals, which was run by Martin Shkreli — used controversial tactics to acquire older brand-name medicines and undermine competition after jacking up the prices to sky-high levels. (12/21)

U.S. Senate committee detailed in an investigative report Wednesday how drug companies were exploiting the market by acquiring decades-old crucial medicines and suddenly raising their prices astronomically. “We must work to stop the bad actors who are driving up the prices of drugs that they did nothing to develop at the expense of patients just because, as one executive essentially said, ‘because I can,’ ” said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who chairs the Senate Aging Committee. (Petersen, 12/21)

The high prices Americans pay for generic drugs may have been cooked up by pharmaceutical salespeople on golf courses, at a New Jersey steakhouse or over martinis at a “Girls Nights Out” in Minnesota. Details emerging from an ongoing investigation show that drug company employees gathered regularly at such swanky locations and conspired to keep prices and profits high, according to interviews and a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court by Attorneys General in 20 states. (Szabo, Aleccia and Zdechlik, 12/22)

Stocks finished slightly lower Wednesday as healthcare companies continued to struggle. Energy companies rose as the price of natural gas surged on the first day of winter. Some traders aren't sticking around to see if the Dow Jones industrial average reaches the 20,000-point milestone: Trading volume has fallen sharply this week as the year-end holidays draw near. (12/21)