Bloomberg View Columnist Joe Nocera compares the drug lobby to big tobacco and Wall Street crooks who drove the country into a recession. The difference – he explains – is that BigPharma makes life-saving cures and treatments, but they charge prices that are often unaffordable for many Americans.
But the cost of those drugs — $100,000 for a cancer drug that extends life an average of six months, a low-cost generic that suddenly costs 10 times more, a new drug with a price tag so high that insurance companies balk at paying it — has angered and frightened Americans.
He goes on to point out that political leaders and policymakers are taking aim at the issue: Politicians such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have denounced the high cost of drugs. The Justice Department has been investigating a number of generic-drug companies for alleged price fixing. Even President Donald Trump has weighed in, accusing pharmaceutical executives of “getting away with murder.” Nocera cites a few recent examples that have been in the news for high prices, including Marathon Pharmaceuticals, Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Turing Pharmaceuticals. Read the full op-ed here.
댓글