LA Times – 6/4/20
“This move is another political stunt from a president worried about his poll numbers with seniors as his broken campaign promises keep stacking up,” said Margarida Jorge, national campaign director for the advocacy group Lower Drug Prices Now.
“Instead of tweaks and one-off proposals for political gain, we need to overhaul the system that gives drug corporations monopoly control over prices, and instead put in place fair rules that ensure access and affordability for everyone,” she said.
Newsweek – 6/2/20
OPED by Cong. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Cong. Francis Rooney (R-FL)
Over the past decade, almost every new medication brought to market was paid for by a hefty investment from taxpayer dollars. Each of these drugs was developed in the interest of a greater public good: to alleviate pain, improve health and save lives. However, accountability for public funding has not prevented pharmaceutical corporations from hiking up prices on new and existing drugs for patients, increasing the cost of prescription drugs up to 10 percent every year.
Maine Beacon podcast interviewed campaign director Margarida Jorge LDPN: The grassroots campaign to stop drug corporations from profiteering off the pandemic (podcast rebroadcast on 6 local radio stations).
Common Dreams – 5/28/20
“Trump has put a pharmaceutical executive in charge of handing out the government contracts for coronavirus vaccine development. How could this possibly go wrong?”
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.”
