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WASHINGTON — Call it Sen. Bernie Sanders’ prescription drug pricing theater.

The hearing, featuring Merck CEO Robert Davis, Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato, and Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner, was designed to draw public interest, and in that respect, it worked. The wood-paneled hearing room in a Senate office building was standing room only, with an overflow room prepared. Photographers flocked for photos as Sanders shook hands with each executive, standard practice before such hearings begin.

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Sanders’ staff got an arm workout switching out foam boards behind the chairman’s head, illustrating how the drug companies called to testify make more revenue from the United States on certain medications than the rest of the world combined.

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