Popular Articles
Today Week Month Year


Senator who took donations from Big Pharma blocks vote on bill to lower drug prices
By News Editors // Feb 11, 2022

Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho blocked Sen. Bernie Sanders' attempt Wednesday to force a vote on legislation that would slash prescription drug prices, thwarting the Vermont senator's effort to fast-track the new bill as the pharmaceutical industry rushes to hike costs in the new year.

Brighteon.TV

(Article by Jake Johnson republished from CommonDreams.org)

"A lifesaving prescription drug does not mean anything if you cannot afford to buy that drug."

Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, requested unanimous consent to proceed to debate and a vote on the Cutting Medicare Prescription Drug Prices in Half Act, a measure he introduced earlier Wednesday alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

If passed, the bill would bring the prices of drugs covered by Medicare into line with what the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or the Federal Supply Schedule pay for the same medications. According to a 2017 Government Accountability Office study, the VA "paid an average of 54% less per unit than Medicare" for a sample of hundreds of brand-name and generic drugs.

But Crapo—a major recipient of pharmaceutical and insurance industry donations—objected to Sanders' request to advance the legislation, claiming it would usher in "more bureaucracy." The Idaho Republican is the lead sponsor of a more industry-friendly bill titled the Lower Costs, More Cures Act, which advocates a "market-based approach" to lowering drug prices.

In a floor speech on Wednesday, Sanders said that "for far too long, it has not been Congress that has been regulating the pharmaceutical industry, it has been the pharmaceutical industry that has been regulating Congress."

"All over this country, the American people are asking a simple question: How many people need to die, how many people need to get unnecessarily sicker, before Congress is prepared to take on the greed of the prescription drug industry?" said the Vermont senator. "Enough is enough. A lifesaving prescription drug does not mean anything if you cannot afford to buy that drug."

“We cannot allow the pharmaceutical industry to charge the American people, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders added.

Legislative action against sky-high and rising drug prices frequently ranks as a top priority of voters, and Sanders has warned that Democrats could face disaster in the upcoming midterms if they fail to deliver. The Build Back Better Act, sweeping legislation that includes provisions to cut medicine costs, is stalled in the Senate due to opposition from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and every Republican in the chamber.

The attempt by Sanders and Klobuchar to hold a vote on their standalone drug-price legislation came as pharmaceutical firms—which lobbied aggressively against the Build Back Better package—continued to raise the costs of medications that treat a range of serious conditions, from cancer to heart disease to HIV.

An analysis released last week by Patients for Affordable Drugs showed that pharma companies have increased the prices of 742 medications so far this year.

"Of the 742 drugs that the industry raised prices on, 92% were on brand-name drugs, one in four exceeded the most recent rate of inflation available in early January, and 93% exceeded the projected inflation rate for 2023, 2.3%," the group found.

David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs, said in a statement that "right now, Big Pharma has unlimited pricing power on brand-name drugs."

"Consistently," Mitchell continued, "the industry proves it only cares about maximizing profit—not public health—and will continue to raise prices as high as it thinks possible without regard to the millions of Americans who are hurt by high drug prices."

Read more at: CommonDreams.org



Take Action:
Support NewsTarget by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NewsTarget.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.

NewsTarget.com © 2022 All Rights Reserved. All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. NewsTarget.com is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. NewsTarget.com assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published on this site. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
News Target uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.