House Democrats have signaled strong action against big tech for abusing its power. Most recently, Democrats on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust issued a scathing 450 page report condemning the monopoly power of tech’s big four: Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook — and calling for antitrust laws to be updated. Federal and state antitrust lawsuits are now beginning to pile up against Google and Facebook.

We need similar action to reign in the power and tactics used by pharmaceutical companies to prolong their monopolies on life-saving medicines and keep lower-cost competition at bay. That means updating the patent system first.

For nearly two years, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been investigating pharmaceutical company pricing practices. After reviewing more than a million pages of documents from companies selling some of the costliest drugs on the market and holding hearings, Democrats on the committee recently released reports detailing the tactics pharmaceutical companies use to keep prices high, maximize profits, and suppress competition. At the core of all these strategies is patents.