Posted on 05/06/2018 4:48:11 PM PDT by Theoria
In his State of the Union address in January and again in New Hampshire in March, President Trump made a bold promise: “You’ll be seeing drug prices falling very substantially in the not-too-distant future,” he said, “and it’s going to be beautiful.”
Not if the pharmaceutical companies can stop it.
Big Pharma is pouring money into a lobbying campaign to thwart any serious efforts to rein in prescription drug prices ahead of a presidential speech this month where Mr. Trump plans to lay out his drug pricing proposals.
“There is apprehension across the industry,” said Bruce Artim, who retired recently after 11 years as the director of federal affairs at Eli Lilly and Company. “Pharma folks are nervous.”
Drugmakers spent $171.5 million lobbying the federal government last year — more than insurance, electronics, oil and gas or any other industry, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent group that tracks money in politics.
Spending by the main lobby for the industry, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, surged in the first quarter of this year, to $10 million, up from $8 million in the first quarter of last year and $6 million in the first quarter of 2016, the trade association said in reports filed with Congress. Its spending is on pace to top the annual totals it reported in recent years, $25.4 million in 2017 and $19.6 million in 2016.
Drug companies and their trade associations deployed 882 lobbyists last year, more than two-thirds of whom had previously worked for Congress or federal agencies, the center said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Maybe if the aides didn't meet with them they wouldn't be so powerful. On which side does the problem lie?
“Wrong, wrong, wrong. Stop posting BS.”
You are wrong, wrong, wrong. I sourced and purchased pharmaceuticals items world-wide for 20 years. What is your background?
Anyone who uses drugs made outside of CONUS should not.
'The industry has a bipartisan stable of lobbyists who worked on health legislation for influential members of Congress.
A longtime aide to former Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, works for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. An aide to former Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, who was the chairman of the Senate health committee, is now a top lobbyist for Merck.
The door swings in both directions. For six years, Gary Andres was the Republican staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for legislation that affects prescription drugs and the F.D.A. In February 2017, he became a senior executive vice president of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a trade group that lobbies for biotech companies.
Then he returned last month to Capitol Hill to become the Republican staff director of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare, including its payments for prescription drugs.
Ryan Long, former chief health counsel at the Energy and Commerce Committee, joined BGR Government Affairs in February 2013. In lobbying disclosure reports filed by BGR, he was listed as a lobbyist for Amgen, Celgene, Gilead, Lilly and Merck, among other clients. He returned to the committee this March as the deputy staff director.
Retired lawmakers also show up as lobbyists.
Among those who are listed as having lobbied for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in recent years are former Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona and former Representative Bill Paxon of New York, both Republicans. Former Representative Ed Whitfield, Republican of Kentucky, is listed as lobbying for AstraZeneca, Genentech and Johnson & Johnson, among other companies.'
THANKS !!
I’m in the med field and go to a nutritionist and have heard all of this stuff - but this is the best, concise, and informative treatise I’ve encountered. I will be using this for family, friends, and customers. (Will save me a lot of oxygen and stupid objections.)
>> we need to get the medical establishment to admit the truth.
Most everyone knows that fast sugars are the primary problem for diabetics. But not everyone wants to forgo the fast sugars. Can’t blame Big Pharma for that.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not happy about the lack of dietary choices, but as a T2 diabetic, that’s my problem — not Big Pharmas, not yours, nor any other consumer.
Well if they can spend that much on lobbying I guess they could pay more in taxes, say about 171 million should do it.
Wonder how much they spend on advertising?
IIRC, there are also some excellent nutriceuticals, including fish oil, curcumin, and astixanthin which work to lower insulin resistance (check w your doc before trying anything new, and don't go off meds unless okayed.)
One suspects (but has no conveniently available proof) that big pharma contributes to "scientists" to perform fake studies implicating nutricuticals for being ineffective.
“...price doesn’t matter because the consumer isn’t paying it; the insurance companies are footing the bill.”
And there lies the problem...if Republicans don’t fix the health care system, Democrats will “fix” it for them. Republican progress so far: broke Obamacare worse than it was already broken. Good job, after more than half a decade of whining about it.
One drug I take costs $400 /month if I buy it at Walmart. I order through Canada and get 3 months for $178. Why?
The reason they get away with it is because Congress has forced insurance companies to cover so much - which has let prices escalate with next to zero restrictions...
Amen. The medical-pharma-government complex is like deep state; it’s a subset probably.
Whenever you hear insurance talk about ‘wellness programs’, just laugh. It’s a wink only. Docs get great lunches from those sexy/handsome drug reps.
With fructose/glucose and other food/additives, how about our childrens’ rise in maladies (ADHD, autism, allergies, diabetes) over the decades?
Lyme Disease is another money game — block deep antibiotic treatment (it works) while getting a vaccine ready for market.
BINGO!
Most everyone knows that fast sugars are the primary problem for diabetics. But not everyone wants to forgo the fast sugars. Can’t blame Big Pharma for that.
The problem isn't so much the junk in our diets, but that when we recognize that we have a problem the recommended diets are as bad or worse.
https://healthwyze.org/reports/164-the-perversion-of-the-food-pyramid
I was almost aa successful with almost the very same rebound response. I suspect the draconian measures were about as difficult to maintain for you as they were for me. I can also tell from the way I feel when I let myself slack off and misbehave. I feel like crap.
And people change - What works for a person at one time won't work at another.
I found, after having been strict low-carb for a couple of years that I could introduce occasional high-carb cheat days without problem.
And then after a couple of years I found that I couldn't, anymore.
I've been trying out a number of alternatives, over the last year or so, with varying degrees of success.
My latest variant, started just a couple of weeks ago, looks promising:
But it's only been a couple of weeks, so we'll see.
FWIW........
I was able to lose from 230 to 200 and got stuck for years.
I had major surgery and lost weight down to 180.
it dropped my A1c by 1% : )
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