The national outcry over escalating drug prices has rather swiftly turned into the stuff of legislation as, in the election year, elected officials are demonstrating their concerns over the unseemly price hikes.

Case in point: the CREATES Act. The acronym stands for Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples — in this case, an acronym that says what the bill actually is.

As reported by Modern Healthcare, this bill with bipartisan Congressional support and consumer group/labor union backing would force brand-name drug companies to play nicer with the makers of generics. The prices of many generics has spiked of late, the cause of much of the complaining about drug prices. The generic makers claim much of the blame can be placed on the brand-name makers and the barriers they have erected to quickly releasing generic versions once patents expire.