Roll Call – 4/22/20
A new drug pricing coalition will launch its first campaign Thursday, calling on lawmakers to ensure that vaccines or treatments for COVID-19 will be affordable for patients, according to information shared exclusively with CQ Roll Call.
Leaders Urge Congress To Take Action In Next Relief Bill To Ensure Drug Companies Can’t Exploit This Crisis
Former Senator Tom Harkin joined Lower Drug Prices Now, local groups and Iowans directly impacted by COVID-19, for a tele-town hall Tuesday at 6:00pm CT to urge Congress to take action to prevent pandemic profiteering by drug companies charged with developing COVID treatments and vaccines.
Politico Prescription Pulse – 4/17/2020
“Skeptics argued that the pledge has its limits, such as not-for-profit being on an emergency basis, not generally. J&J has also secured more than $600 million in government funding for its vaccine and antiviral efforts, leading some to argue the government should have an ultimate say in price.
“It really shouldn’t be up to the prescription drug companies,” said Margarida Jorge, national campaign director for Lower Drug Prices Now. “It’s like not this thing is going anywhere. We’re going to need it and we’re going to need it for the long term, like with the polio vaccine.”
“What a surprise. It appears that Donald Trump’s obsession with pushing an untested, and potentially deadly drug, has more to do with his political health than the country’s health. This is exactly how the system works. Big Pharma uses campaign contributions and their armies of lobbyists to buy influence in Washington to advance their agenda and put their profits over our health. It is shameful and scandalous. And in this case, it may be deadly.”
“Johnson & Johnson’s promise to provide a future coronavirus vaccine on a ‘not-for-profit basis’ rings hollow. J&J has a record of promising not-for-profit prices on life-saving drugs, and then gouging patients for the same medicines later on. That’s why we know we can’t trust Johnson & Johnson not to profiteer on this one.”
Lower Drug Prices Now shared recommendations with the Presidential candidates on how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure affordable treatments and vaccines for all.
“The explosive report in the New York Times showing that President Trump has financial ties to the company making a version of the experimental drug he is pushing raises serious ethical, moral and legal questions that need to be immediately investigated by Congress. Is Trump personally profiting from this crisis? Is he helping his buddies in the pharmaceutical industry profiteer from the pandemic? Given the all too cozy relationship that his administration has with Big Pharma, these questions need to be thoroughly investigated.”
