>> this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up to the top stories this hour. >> we are making progress but we have big gaps. we still have some serious gaps. >> secretary of state john kerry in vienna, pushing for a deal on iran's nuclear program. vice president john biden in ukraine.

if you are paying more for generic drugs, what is being done to address spiraling cost. it's been a month since the abduction of 43 students in mexico. what's been done to stem the violence in the country. we begin tonight fading optimism for reaching a nuclear program deal with iran before monday's deadline. secretary of state john kerry and iran's foreign minister remained in vienna at least one day trying to work out an agreement. the tentative deal is expiring with iran on monday. russian, france, united kingdom and germany, iran had promised to roll back part of its program in exchange for easing of economic sanction he.

the deal expires monday. we get more from jonah hull in vienna. >> the negotiators have spent the day hunkered down in meetings giving little away to media. technical teams have been hard at work as well, testing different scenarios so see if one may be better than another. john kerry, the u.s. secretary of state, mohamed java sarif, finished their fourth trilateral meeting of these talks and the german foreign minister has arrived as well. but his british and french counterparts are back in their capitals. the russian and chinese ministers haven't left theirs and there's no indication when they might. the insight we have of where these tacks are comes from a reuters source quoting a source in a european delegation, close

to this, the chances of a final iran deal by monday's deadline are very small. that there's no significant progress on sticking points around iran answer uranium enrichment program and discussion on a possible extension of these talks may begin on sunday. now, what exactly that means we are not clear. whether they may talk for a day or two more, if they believe a deal is in sight or whether indeed they may break up these talks to return at a future date remains to be seen. >> jonah hull in vienna. for more than three decades the u.s. and its allies applied economic sanctions against iran without much success. the new measures introduced three years ago may have turned the tide. patricia sabga explains. >> they have been a defining feature of u.s. iranian relations since the seizure of the u.s. embassy in tehran. economic sanctions. a tool that for decades failed

to bring iran's leaders to heel. >> for a long time islamist government the sort of learned to live with the sanction he that were being imposed by the united states. >> such as the 1980 u.s. ban on iranian oil imports. a move that didn't stop countries such as japan from buying up iran's crude. lack of international support also hampered president clinton's efforts in the 1990s to rein in tehran. but mada mahmoud ahmadinejad std to take shape. in december of that year, the u.n. security council approved the first round of sacks against iran. but by 2011 with iran still failing to comply with international demands, washington upped the anteand

barred foreign financial institutions from conduct oil transactions with iran's central bank. measures that would culminate in europe block iran's access to the international payment system. prevented iran from receiving payment for crude oil, by far its most valuable export. it was a game changing move that would ultimately force iran to the nuclear negotiating table. >> it really surprised them and not only had they not been able to go around these sanctions, they had admit to themselves there was no way around it. >> in 2013 under the leadership of newly elected reformist president hasan rouhani, the deadline is looming to achieve a comprehensive deal the question is no longer if sanctions will work, but when.

patricia sabga, al jazeera. >> iraqi civilians including women and children were killed during an air strike in iraq today. the jets hit residential targets in province. >> as a result of air strikes four children four adults two of which were women and also five people injured. now it hasn't been confirmed whether they were coalition air strikes or iraqi army air strikes. however through social media a sunni rebel group has claimed it was iraqi air force that mounted that air strike that amounted in the casualties. whilst all of that was happening another claim that coalition air strikes had hit a training camp of i.s.i.l. fighters near hit. an assault on rahmadi.

sunni tribal fighters are trying to push i.s.i.l. fighters away. this is the biggest assault since the iraqi army took it over in october. back up disrupting i.s.i.l. activity coming through and trying to take over the city of rahmadi. >> imran khan in rahma tirvetion rvetion. >> since the beginning of the fight, biden expressed continued u.s. support. >> we have devoted, because of what turkey is doing, we have been able to devote roughly a little over $3 billion to this effort including $200 million to

turkey which is not nearly the cost they are incurring but collectively we are working to deal with the humanitarian crisis in turkey, the largest better of that being thrust on the turkish people. >> hundreds of demonstrators rallied against biden's visit. the group thought to be responsible for harassing u.s. service members two weeks ago. >> reprecep tayyip erdogan, thee is still again no indication that the turkish authorities will allow the u.s. to use air bases in turkey to launch sort

sorties against i.s.i.l. and iraq, that means u.s. and allied aircraft will continue to fly those long journeys from the gulf. turkey continues to see the regime of bashar al-assad as much as i.s.i.l, it wants the u.s. to take on assad as well, and a no fly zone in northern syria so that syrian refugees can be housed. the u.s. continues to maintain that its priority is i.s.i.l. and this is where the divide remains between turkish and u.s. policy and today's visit by biden doesn't seem to have closed that gap. >> let's take you to northern syria, the siege of kobani continues. kurdish forces says they have

seed stock piles and ammunition. the battle for kobani has been going on for two months. are u.s. and coalition air strikes have pummeled the down. further south there has been intense fighting between the syrian army and rebel groups. in the damascus suburb of jabar, government forces have been trying to force rebels out. israeli occupied golan heights, forces are caught. kim vanel has more. >> the fight to control syria's southwestern province is fierce. thousands, separating syria and the occupied golan heights, forces are coming under attack

from syrian forces. u.n. peace keepers retreated to the israeli side of the ceasefire line in september after syrian rebels took control of the only crossing. those living or taking refuge inside that ceasefire zone hoped they would be safe. >> this is the result. i'm a civilian. i lost my eye, i also lost my hand. i've been treated in the hospital but i need to go abroad as doctors there could be possibly able to do more for my case. we don't have the right medicines here. >> lying 65 kilometers to the north, an alliance of rebel fighters, including the al qaeda linked el nusra front. fleeing the fighting are forced into the country side. where nothing is easy. >> translator: we need to buy everything.

we need to buy water, bread, clothing and everything. we need to buy it but we don't have money. >> reporter: many here don't take sides and are angry both at the regime for the bombardment and the regime for failing to keep its word. struggle for survival continues. kim vanel, al jazeera. >> obama has apparently expanded the role of u.s. troops in afghanistan to include combat. back in may the u.s. said this troops would have no role in combat, but for counterterrorismism missions against al qaeda. but the u.s. ensures that american troops will have a direct role in fighting in the country for at least another year. after spending 12 years detained at guantanamo bay, mohamed al zaradi is going back

home, he will take part in a program to retrain militants and the 13th person released this year. a report by the house intelligence committee says the cia and u.s. military acted appropriately during attacks on the facilities in benghazi, libya two years ago. an investigation by the republican led panel also dismissed allegations the obama administration blocked rescue attempts or tried to mislead the public afterwards. the report did find however that security was lax at the state department facility. u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three others died in that attack. the grand jury in ferguson has gone on a recess until monday. it is deliberating whether or not to bring critical charges in the death of michael brown last as you recall. sparked protests some peaceful others violent.

people have been protesting in ferguson all this week. robert ray reports. >> the past three months in ferguson, missouri and the st. louis metro area have been tough. people have been awaiting this grand jury decision here, as to whether or not darren wilson shot and killed 18-year-old michael brown on purpose or whether he was defending himself. the grand jury has been deciding this and going over all the evidence over the course of the past few months. we thought yesterday on friday that they had convened and there would be a decision this weekend perhaps as early as tomorrow on sunday. but we just have learned that is not the case. as a matter of fact no decision this weekend and we're told that that grand jury will reconvene this week on monday to go over more evidence and discuss this case even further. whether or not there is a decision, over this thanksgiving holiday week we don't know. there has been no decision out

now. the protesters have been out in front of the ferguson police department, they have been blocking streets, as many as 60 last week, three arrested, some of these protesters from out of town. businesses in ferguson are calling for a plea to help stop all this violence and some of the supposed hysteria that is going on in ferguson. they said they have lost up to 75% of their business since august ninlt when the shooting has -- 9th when the shooting occurred. we'll wait for the decision to come in the next couple of weeks but we're not sure whether we'll see it this holiday week. >> robert ray in ferguson. coming up. nearly two months since 43 students went missing. calling for change in a corrupt government that has ruled with impunity. we're going to take a deeper look. plus under investigation. generic drug makers come under

scrutiny for sky high prices. the forecast with ribbie ca -- h rebecca. >> six to seven feet of snow in some areas on the ground. coming up i'll tell where you the flood threat is greatest and how those temperatures warm up.

welcome backtonight we take a deeper lot growing unrest in mexico. protesters are and inning answers two months after rea students were abduct -- after 43 students were abducted. guerrero sait in september. now are president enrique pena nieto. >> insatiable appetite for illit

iillicit drugs. they not only traffic in drugs, they extort individuals, rape family members, or just kill them. they just can't take it any longer. in the recent case of these 43 missing students shows how upset people are, sparked an age are and fear not seeing much here in mexico. protests across the country, numbering in the tens of thousands, if not more people participating. the president of mexico enrique pena nieto came to office less than two years ago. promising to ramp down the violence and now he is facing the biggest political crisis of his term in office. he is trying to convince the

government that, people don't believe he is capable of doing that. we are in a country where some 93% of criesm crimes go uninves. people no longer have any faith in institutions meant to protect them. >> adam rainey is joining us live from mexico city. good to see you adam. what is the latest on this investigation of these students? >> well, they're still waiting results from austria to see if remains found at one of the several mass grave sites are indeed those of the 43 students. now the attorney general of mexico, jesus caram, said that the members of this group confessed to the fact that members of that gang had killed these students. and the way he presented that evidence at a press conference is particularly what upset and

angered many of the family of the students. they don't buy the story, they want to solve the case and finish it. they're waiting to hear what the austrian experts say and they want separate results from an argentine owner group. group. >> a senior staff person, and alma nieto, long covered latin america. >> i want to start with you. you have been covering this for quite some time. how would you describe the playing of violence in certain parts of mexico? >> i think it's been going on for a very long time, at least

ten years i would say. and i do think that this is not the worst case of violence we've seen and by no means the only case of violence we have seen. what's made it so visible to people is it was violence exercised against 43 students from a particularly poor state in mexico and one of the very poorest colleges or teacher schools in the whole country. in fact shockingly poor. what has happened i think is that it's been setting off a succession of sparkz s sparks st people are upset about the drug violence, people are upset about the students specifically, merchants are upset about the loss of tourism, at the stage where they have stated they would have to let people go. people are worried about their own safety on hoits passing

through. there's been a -- highways passing through. there's been a marginal report, that one of the bodies found did not belong to the students but to a priest from uganda who had been kidnapped in april. there is a great deal of anger unrest and fear that sort of snowballed over these last eight weeks. >> i want to talk about the timing of these protesters and anger. the number has been disputed, 27,0027,000 missing. what is it about this case, 47 students that sparked these mass protests? >> the 43 curricula, they're vie young, students, not in any way involved in organized crime. it was the perpetrator, the local government, the mayor who had ties to organized crime and actually to have the government

who's supposed to protect you pass you, pass these innocent victims off to an organized crime group. we're not exactly clear what the instructions were from the mayor and his wife, there were instructions to deal with the students and they dealt with them in a horrible, horrible way. this is just a horrible atrocity and i think it's unfolded before the eyes of mexico. it is sort of the case didn't take a long time to get out in terms of the initial pieces of information, but it's slowly unfolding and we've been seeing the layers of the onion peeled back and the layers of corruption peeled back. we've seen the resignation of a governor, we've seen the finding of many other mass graves that didn't belong to the students along the way. just the i think this revealed and shocked mexicans, but they spptesuspected this type of this happening all along.

>> they are not wealthy, their families make less than $500 a month. what would they have to gain in any of these cases? >> well, nothing. i think something went wrong here. there's no good reason for it, no justification for it obviously. as the story's coming out what appears that happened is that the students were traveling to the city of igwala, to demonstrate, to get to another area in mexico city. as they were arriving it seems that there was some information that was given to the mayor and/or his wife about what was happening. she the mayor's wife was planning an event and there was concern that the event would be disrupted 50 protest of the students. that's all they did. they arrived and they were maybe going to get in the way of the actions of the local rulers. and some order was given at that point to deal with that threat.

and then things went horribly wrong. how much of it was you know a deliberate attack, and there was a desire to kill this many students and how much of it was maybe something a miscommunication or things sort of getting out of control is totally unclear. >> adam rainey joining us again. adam, what do these gangs, these cartels want? what are they seeking? this is more than just about drugs, right? >> well, it is. basically states like guerrero, states like michoacan and, tomalitos has been hunting grounds for these criminal groups. they don't want to just traffic drugs through that area anymore. they want to exploit that territory for whatever profit they can find. that might be charging people extortion money or protection money just to have a business, just to be operating in that city. that's what we've heard from

people in michoacan. people having lime ranches, how the security situation is working out there in michoacan. but basically it is profit, fueling this violence and when you have so many armed groups in areas where there is little authority, there is little to stop things from getting out of control because there's nothing stopping them. there's not many cases taking these people away when things get out of control. although this case has had dozens of suspects arrested because it's an anomaly because there's all this international attention on it. but fact is, there are large parts of mexico where gangs operate and other impunity and wide without given a pass, it's because members of the local government themselves are involved in the criminal gans, members o --gangs or somehow on.

>> the sonola cartel, guerrero state falls in that territory. i want to talk about this situation, what do you make of the corruption, how do we begin to fight corruption? >> i think one of the problems is that mexico has used corruption as a tool of government, for so many decades now, that when the drug groups, the drug plans, the drug families, started becoming more powerful it was very easy for them to feed into that corruption network. so that for example, in the concrete case of igwala and the 43 students, what we know is that the mrs. mayor for lack of a better word, the wife of the mayor, was the sister of three gang members of the united warriors, of the guerreros unidos. they would deposit money to her every month which she in turn

fueled into the payroll of the police. so that the police knew who they were getting paid by. they were getting paid by and were answerable to the guerreros unidos. it was veriest for th very he fo say, deal with this, and it was a favor or a service for drug gang. corruption is in every part of the country. people routinely pay a small bribe to a cop who stops you on the street. and then i'm sure many, many mayors throughout mexico have to come to sort of some sort of arrangement with the drug groups because if they don't, then they're under threat. any number of candidates, have been killed and many number of mayors. >> there's mass corruption. i want to talk about the change here. how did pena nieto change the strategy on its war on is

violence, mr. wilson? >> the prior a very frontal assault of the organized crime groups going after the top leaders of the groups, going after them with the military and the federal police and what that did is, they were successful in some ways. they were successful in taking out a lot of the top leaders and what happened was -- >> 30 of the 37 main leaders but then we saw these groups splinter out, we saw these little more violent groups. >> exactly. we saw the fragmentation of these groups. the guerreros unidos, coming into force. trafficking drugs as one of their main source he of income to crimes of extortion, crimes where society is the victim. so as that went on, as society became the victim more and more there was a demand throughout mexico to stop focusing on

organized crime groups and start focusing on private citizens. that was during calderon administration but also the platform that pena nieto ran on as well as other presidential candidates for that matter. his strategy insofar as there has been an articulated strategy to deal with security issues was to focus on crimes that had the highest social impacts on homicides extortion kidnapping and find ways to bring those down. what was really unclear is how he planned to do that. he came in at a moment in which the homicide rate was actually falling. it hasn't fallen a whole lot but a little bit since he came into office. but there are major pending items such as a transition to a new judicial system in mexico that remained pending and only finally just now in the past few days has the president begun to talk about that as one of the

issues behind the issue of corruption and violence. so i think what we're really seeing now is people demanding a clear strategy and finally i think the president and his team will be forced to articulate one or at least i hope so. >> adam rainey in mexico city how much faith do the people have in pena nieto? >> i'd say they have very little overall, of course he has his officials as every official, elected official does no matter how unpopular they've become. but beyond corruption and conclusion, they also see their leaders as totally out of touch. you have at the same time that this crisis is happening for pena nieto, a whole conflict of interest constantl scandal surra house he and his wife have, it is in the name of someone they have long standing relations with, a man in a country that

has hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts from the country of mexico, around when this contract was cancelled with this news story pending, a multimillion dollar contractual for high speed rail project. when people see that kind of scandal when the government is not solving the problem of violence they believe these very wealthy political types in mexico city, have no interest in solving their problems and extremely out of touch. you also had the stepdaughter of the president when she went to accept an entertainment award she was asked on the red carpet what she thought of this school where the students were studying, the name given to this whole case. she said, we came out to have a good time tonight, not to talk about this issue, so let's have a good time tonight. the family doesn't understand their problems, he lives in a

rarefied world and he doesn't have anything to do with people on the ground who live on very little money amidst a very violent situation. >> seen as out of touch. if you would stand by for just a moment. focused on the surge of illegal immigrant children from honduras, el salvador and gawt guatemala. heidi zhou-castro explains. >> governor rick perry says that national guard troops will remain at the border for the remainder of the year. we're getting a better idea about where these kids came from. the u.n. says the majority of the children who made the attempt were mexican, where yeutsd from el salvador, guatemala and honduras, mexican children were not granted that

same protection. those kids were returned to mexico within the few days without a formal hearing. according to the u.n. those mexican youths were at the greatest risk to be snatched up by organized crime. cartels recruited the children to be human smuggling guides because if caught they were simply returned across the border. according to reports as many as 94% of crimes go unreported, or uninvestigated, in mexico. yet legal experts say in 90% of cases, the violence in mexico was not enough to convince u.s. officials to grant asylum to people seeking to escape it. for comparison, if you look at cuba, the u.s. government recognizes the cuban communist government as oppressive and therefore it is much easier for a cuban immigrant to claim asylum in the u.s. showing that the country of origin for immigrants is very important in their case for claiming asylum.

heidi zhou-castro, al jazeera, dallas. >> many of these children being recruited as child soldiers, our panel joining us one again. do you see border enforcement enacting any real change here? >> i think i will quote the founder of el farro punto salvador, he says the crisis is is in the crisis in the state of gair rowe, one of the more dramatic things i saw coming out of this area was the students who said, you know as children we worked in the poppy fields. we had no alternative. we could work in the poppy fields or hide. we can go to the united states or we can join the drug groups as little guides. as adam was saying.

but there is no other choice. so yes, of course, there is increased awareness of the problem of crossing the border. but that doesn't mean that people are going to stop trying. the alternatives are really so few. >> does the united states need to play a greater role? >> the united states absolutely is one of the major players in this in terms of demand for drugs and also has the potential to play a very important role in terms of supporting mexico in a transition to a new justice system supporting mexico and dealing with issues of corruption. they already do play an important role and there's definitely space for that role to grow. in a place like mexico for everything bad we're saying what's going on in mexico there's plenty to complain about, there is also the fact that mexico is a large country with a growing middle class. what i mean by that they have a lot of resources. if mexico decides to devote

resources to reforming rules of law institutions of protecting its people it has quite a lot of resources to be table able to do that. to reform mexico and to protect its citizens. >> our final thoughts from adam rainey. what does real reform look like for people, adam? >> i think real reform would be that they are safe to carry out their lives in participants of the country where there is little authority right now. you know mexico is trumpeted as having a democracy that really got founded in 2000 when the pre was elected out of office after almost 70 years. in those 14 years in many ways people's quality of life have gone down. if you think of your quality of life being assured by safety in government. people want to see that they're safe that they don't have to pay bribes to get a driver's license

or a marriage certificate and they can live in a rule of law. >> alma, christopher, and our adam rainey joining us, on a deeper look, appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> still ahead on al jazeera america, the birth place of the arab spring tunisia celebrating their democratic process with 27 candidates for tomorrow's presidential elections. and states brace for possible flooding as the snowfall begins to melt.

>> take a look at this scene right here in buffalo. fears of flooding as the city continues to dig its way out of record snowfall. seven feet has left much of buffalo at a standstill, shutting down schools and closing businesses. meteorologists warn that melting snow could release over six inches of snow between now and

monday. governor quomo explains. >> we're starting to stockpile equipment to handle potential flooding operations, that will include 425 pumps and generators, 55 boats, are being brought in as we speak, three helicopters, 29 what they call high-axle vehicles that can do rest accuse in about four to five feet of water. and 180,000 sand bags. in case we need them. >> just in case. the governor says the sait is ss ready but governor quomo says the state should prepare for the worst and expect the best. rebecca stevenson. >> it begins to sound more like a spring avalanche cycle that's coming in with a big snow pack,

very deef, and then we've -- deep, then we've got the temperatures, and rain that loads the snow pack even more and wind gusts that haven't pushed off areas that weren't cleared off the roof. dangerous situation. then areas of rain push up from the south and we're beginning to see those temperatures really warm. already buffalo is above the freezing mark and we're going to stay above freezing all the way through monday. it's not until monday night to tuesday that we start to get those temperatures back down again. so flood warnings issued now buffalo area down to erie, pennsylvania, we expect sunday night into monday morning to be the most dangerous point of the weather system moving through. rain sunday night to monday and bring those wind gusts as well. boy, it's going to be pretty dicey, as the winds role through, temperatures will get

to the 50° mark. closer to 70 by the time we get into monday! so as we look at our low temperatures on sunday morning, upper 30s to low 40s, as we get through day we'll be in the upper 40s for high, pittsburgh great lakes it's going to be in the upper 60s. snow does help cool things off a little bit. incidentally, as the warmer air came through, freezing rain in the northeast but we did have freezing rain cause a plane to slide off the runway, earlier today. you could see her o here on the, delta plane. most of the portion of the northwest iced in, and now it's shiftover east of the great lakes. >> good to hear everyone is fine. we're going to see more problems with the freezing temperatures. rebecca stevenson thank you.

teuniantunisians are going o elect a new president. for the first time there will be more than one name on the ballot, 27 candidates in all and a lot of excitement about the process. in bahrain, the polls have closed for voting in the country's parliamentary elections. first vote since the government cracked down on the shia party. the largest shia candidates boycotted the vote. a sunni muslim monarchy rules a predominantly shia nation. israel is trowrn returning a controversial decades-old poli policy. demolishing homes of two men accused of attacking a synagogue. threatens to inflame already hostile tensions. human rights watch has asked

israel to end the demolitions calling it collective punishment. israel ended it in 2005 after they said it was not an effective deterrent. more reports of skirmishes in eastern ukraine. pro-russian separatists exchanged fire with military outside donetsk today. trying to shore up their positions before winter sets in. 4300 have been killed in the region since voyages began in april. airliner shot down over ukraine in july, the republican i don't know in the region had previously prevented recovery of the wreckage. it's being taken to the netherlands. a new accusation by russian

foreign minister som sergey lav. >> the west is making clear it does not want to change the policy of the russian federation which in itself is a fallacy. >> economic sanctions by the international community against iran and north korea were designed not ohurt their economies. vladimir putin says the government must guard against the ou ousted leaders. we are getting word that a taxi hijacked earlier this week in guinea, three men robbed the vehicle they made off with cash jewelry and a cooler that was holding the infected blood samples. guinea officials are asking for

the return of the samples which could be dangerous if handled. ebola has killed 5,000, the worst outbreak in history. somalia's al shabaab, took l responsibility for an attack, kenya's military struck back with air strikes, killing 45 rebels. cost of prescriptions are on the rise, some 1,000 percent in the past year. we're going to have details just ahead.

>> on the stream >> csi environment we talk with scientists who helping to pinpoint pollution culprits by creating a way to fingerprint fracking waste water >> the stream only on al jazeera america >> sticker shock at the drugstore. the price of generic medications has been skyrocketing. some no name drugs now cost hundreds of dollars more than they did a couple of years ago. maria ines ferre says the

problem has trcted the interest of congress. >> for years, the generic medications has lowered the cost of medication he, once the patent on the original drug expired and the original maker recouped research and development costs. its estimated generics now account for 86% of all the drugs dispenses in the u.s. which makes sense when you figure they can cost nearly 30 to 80% less than the originals. according to the president of the generic pharmaceutical association, generic medications save patients $239 billion last year and almost $1.5 trillion in the last decade. but not everyone is happy. >> more than one out of four americans do not fill their prescriptions because they cannot afford the cost. >> at a senate hearing this week federal records showed that more than 1200 generic drugs increased in cost by on average

448% from july 2013 to july 2014. some of them are pretty common medicines. one of the most dramatic examples, the antibiotic doxi cyclene. >> the generic prices are going to continue to rise we are going to have people all over this country who are sick who need medicine and who simply will not be able to afford to buy the medicine that they need. >> independent vermont senator bernie sanders and maryland senator elijah cummings, want generic drug companies to provide a rebate to medicaid, if their prices rise faster than inflation. they say the drugs in question

represent a small percentage of the nonbranded money saving drugs on the market. maria ines ferre, al jazeera, new york. >> to discuss the rising cost of generic drugs is pharmacist robert frankel. >> what's behind the spike. >> well, it can be a variety of issues. production problems, raw material shortages, the fda has increased scrutiny on some manufacturing plants especially in india where over 40% of the prescription drugs in america are manufactured. and there's also a consolidation in the marketplace where different generic manufacturers are buying each other out and thereby causing fewer manufacturers to make any given drug. >> on that point i know there

are a lot of finger pointing. who's to whraim -- who's to blame? >> it's the fda a little bit. you have to point the fingers directly at them. all of these factors can increase drug prices by five, ten, 20% and that's somewhat understandable when competition is decreased. but there is no explanation for a drug that goes up 1,000, even 8,000%. >> what's the best practice for controlling these costs? >> that's a great question and that's what the hearing was all about. there should be an agency somewhere in the united states, that oversees this. right now there is none. it might be the fda, it could be the department of justice, the ftc, but someone has to be a watchdog over these generic companies when they set these prices. >> who's that going to be? >> it's got to be either the fda or the ftc. both those agencies are probably

underfunded and don't want to take normal responsibility so right now it's up in the air who's going to take care of that. >> bottom line what does this mean by the consumer? who's most affect ied by the pre increase? >> everyone is affected. if you are paying a co-pay, the chances are your co-pay is going to go up if the drug price went up and the pharmacist is caught in the middle. right away our cost goes up. unfortunately the pharmacy benefit matters, ultimately set the reimbursement prices that we get lag in reimbursement months and months, before they increase the price so we're often caught right in the middle. >> i guess the million dollar question is what do we do? we don't go for the brand name drugs because they're costly. we go for the generics, they are cheaper. what is the alternative?

do we have to have options? >> you still need to stick with the generics, they are less expensive but they are raising in price by astronomical amounts, it is not fair. there needs to be a watchdog on them, and also on the are insurance companies. >> do you see change on the horizon? you testified in washington, do you see washington taking any action? >> that's what we hope for. as i said that was the purpose of the hearing and this was a fact findings mission to find out what's going on to see if the problem exists. it does. to see what the reasons are, there could be many and to see who could take care of watching over this and we have some suggestions. i believe senator sanders introduced a bill that day to kind of mirror what the brand name manufacturers have to go through. if their drugs are raised in price by more than the rate of inflation they have to pay back the difference to the medicaid program and senator sanders bill

will lay the same responsible on the companies, they have to pay that back to the medicaid problems as well. >> we don't see drug prices going up even more do we? >> until something is done to keep it in check it's going to keep happening. i got a few phone calls today that some drugs may be going up in price so it's happening as we speak. >> a lot of consumers faced with this issue. pharmacist robert frankel, we appreciate your time. >> thank you about thank. >> we have a unique approach to imagine tonight.

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president obama dares congress to act as he goes it alone, changing american immigration policy. also, is our war against isil unfocused and underfunded? and americans feel alzheimer's more than any other disease. so why does it get so little funding for research? hello, i am antonio mora and welcome to "consider this." those stories and much more straight ahead. ♪ ♪ there are actions i have the legal authority take as president that will help make our immigration system more fair.