Trump did not successfully negotiate lower drug prices for Americans this week, as he falsely claimed. All that happened was a single pharmaceutical corporation, Pfizer, agreed to postpone its latest round of drug price increases. Prescription drug prices – already sky high and unaffordable for many Americans – did not decrease by a cent, and many have even increased.
Trump is a puppet of the pharmaceutical industry. He’s already given pharmaceutical companies billions in tax breaks, and now his White House has come under fire for working behind closed doors to help Novartis, a giant pharmaceutical company, make hundreds of millions more.
Meanwhile, Americans across the country continue to struggle with rising costs of prescription drugs. Read their stories below:The biggest drug companies saved more than $76 billion from the Trump tax law and have used those savings to benefit their CEOs, not to lower drug prices.
STAT News: “The group released a report calculating that five companies it analyzed would save a combined $6 billion in 2018 — and that 10 would save $76 billion in taxes on offshore revenue. Instead of passing those savings on to consumers or hiking employee wages, most companies have favored major stock buybacks or raising dividends. Drug prices have also continued to increase.”
White House officials have come under fire for working behind closed doors to help Novartis, a giant pharmaceutical company, make hundreds of millions of dollars through a favorable drug pricing arrangement.
Democracy Forward: “Democracy Forward filed a complaint with the Office of Government Ethics requesting an immediate investigation into whether senior White House official Joseph Grogan violated ethics laws by working on a drug pricing project of significant financial interest to his former employer.”
Meanwhile, Americans across the country continue to struggle with rising drug prices.
“If I have to have this for the rest of my life, you know, that’s a long time, I hope. you know, so I don’t want to run out, but I’m just at a loss.” – Indiana cancer patient
“‘I had to immediately stop it,’ Braun said. Then Braun was prescribed leflunomide, known as Arava under its brand name. That drug had a $100 co-pay, too much for her budget. More recently, she was prescribed Actemra, only to find it had a $600 co-pay. ‘That’s half my monthly income,’ Braun said.”
– Connecticut resident suffering from arthritis
“‘It’s a very real thing living with a child that could have a [fatal] seizure,’ Jonathan says. ‘It just seems kind of silly to be worrying about the bottom line of a company when you’re talking about kids’ lives.’” – Rhode Island father of a son with epilepsy
“When Danielle took the microphone at the hearing, she spoke of the agony of Trevor’s diagnosis and watching him seize. ‘How do you find the words to describe the most horrific event in your life, your personal valley of the shadow of death?’ Danielle said. ‘Because that is exactly the feeling that clamps your heart when you are at a place where the medication needed to rescue your child is out of reach.’” – Rhode Island mother of a son with epilepsy