Drug corporations continue to raise drug prices to pad their profits, putting medicine out of reach for millions — even in the middle of a global pandemic that has claimed millions of people’s jobs, health care and over 200,000 American lives. In just the last six months alone, Big Pharma companies raised the prices of more than 850 drugs. The price of prescription drugs is increasing faster than any other medical good or service. Despite empty promises from President Trump and Republicans to lower prices, this Administration has done nothing to rein in Big Pharma’s monopoly control to charge patients ever higher prices for the medications they desperately need.
Yet again, President Trump is trying to bribe his way to re-election. Sending $200 gift cards to seniors before the election is a poor substitute for continuing to let drug corporations jack up their medicine prices afterwards.
“President Trump has had four years to uphold his promises to provide Americans with a ‘fantastic’ health plan. Now, 40 days out from the election, he’s announcing a string of executive orders that do nothing to provide people with the kind of coverage and security they need, especially in a pandemic.
“Americans are scared, and for good reason. And this unprecedented and dangerous power grab by Health and Human Services Secretary Azar, a Trump appointee, won’t help. Nearly every action the Trump Administration has taken in recent weeks shows far more concern for the health and safety of the President’s re-election campaign than for the American people who are facing imminent harm because of COVID.
“After three years of broken promises, empty rhetoric, and flat out lies it appears that in an act of pure desperation, Donald Trump tried to force the drug companies to send seniors ‘Trump Cards’ with $100 on it in advance of the election.
Let’s be clear on what is happening here: Donald Trump is trying to deceive voters, seniors in particular, with election year stunts to hide the fact that he hasn’t delivered on his much-touted promise to lower drug prices. A new report issued yesterday shows that not only are drug prices not falling as the President claims, they are increasing faster than other medical goods or services.
Washington — On Friday, Senator Tammy Baldwin will join a virtual community roundtable hosted by Lower Drug Prices Now to demand action from Congress to ensure that preventative vaccines and treatments for COVID will be safe and affordable for everyone. The coalition along with Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Oxfam, Main Street Alliance, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the AFL-CIO, Souls to the Polls, the American Medical Students Association, and other partners are calling for access to affordable COVID drugs, and an end to Big Pharma’s rampant profiteering off of the coronavirus pandemic.
A trio of watchdog groups are calling for the federal government to publicly release copies of the coronavirus vaccine development contracts signed with pharmaceutical companies that have received federal funding. American Oversight, Accountable Pharma, and Lower Drug Prices Now today filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requesting the release of the contracting records.
The requests ask for the release of written agreements between HHS and DOD and the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, and Novavax. American Oversight and Lower Drug Prices Now have previously submitted six requests related to coronavirus vaccine development (May 6, June 11), only two of which have received responses — both of which were heavily redacted (Moderna, Johnson & Johnson).
