Maine Beacon – 5/28/20
Demanding that Congress take action to stop Big Pharma from profiteering off any potential COVID-19 treatment or vaccine, dozens of Mainers protested in cars outside Sen. Susan Collins’ offices in Bangor, Lewiston and Portland on Thursday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, President Trump announced the White House had struck a deal with drug manufacturers to cap the price of insulin at $35 for diabetic Medicare enrollees. The Trump administration’s move, however, is nothing more than a political stunt designed to place a band-aid on a bullet wound. With more than 40 million people nationwide in need of affordable insulin, this proposal only does so for about 3 million Medicare-participating seniors.
WASHINGTON – Today, ahead of Merck & Co’s shareholder meeting, Lower Drug Prices Now joined with Merck shareholders, including Oxfam and the Oregon State Treasurer, to issue statements challenging the drug corporation’s record of price gouging and tax avoidance. Merck’s reliance on short-term schemes, such as using monopoly power to hike drug prices is particularly troubling since Merck is now developing a COVID vaccine with direct support from US taxpayers.
Minneapolis Star Tribune – 5/21/20
“Margarida Jorge, the campaign director of the pressure group, Lower Drug Prices Now, challenged the decision of U.S. authorities to hand over money for the vaccine development. Jorge said the U.S. Congress should insist that any drugs developed with taxpayer investments be provided at no additional cost.
“Beating COVID depends on ensuring these medicines will be affordable,” Jorge said in a statement. “Instead, the Trump Administration continues to give drug corporations monopoly control over prices to profiteer off the pandemic.”
“It’s Groundhog Day. Another day, another drug corporation with a history of price gouging gets a massive gift of taxpayer dollars, no strings attached. Every taxpayer should be asking the Trump Administration why we are giving AstraZeneca over $1 billion for drugs that were developed with our tax dollars.”
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Washington – Today, the Lower Drug Prices Now coalition hosted a tele-town hall featuring Wisconsin Representative Gwen Moore, former Representative Donna Edwards, Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, and Gary Mitchell, President of the Wisconsin Alliance of Retired Americans to demand affordable COVID drugs and accountability for drug corporations that are profiteering off of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Today’s worldwide pandemic should remind us all that we are linked in an international economy where we may all be impacted by developments in nations thousands of miles away. The United States has had a long legacy of global leadership in many areas, but President Trump’s current posture on coronavirus medicines has so far been disappointing, both at home and abroad.”
