Bernie Sanders: Will Trump have the guts to stand up to drug companies?

[DonViejo]

By Bernie Sanders February 2 at 4:25 PM

Bernie Sanders, an independent, represents Vermont in the U.S. Senate.

President Trump and other Republicans have talked about the greed of the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, Trump said (rightly) that Big Pharma is “getting away with murder.” But talk is cheap. The question is: Will Republicans really have the guts to join me and many of my colleagues in standing up to the drug companies to fight for American consumers and end the disgrace of having our country pay by far the highest prescription drug prices in the world? If Trump believes what he has said about the industry, he will rally his party to help save American lives. Here’s why.

The five largest drug manufacturers made more than $50 billion in profits in 2015. Meanwhile, nearly 1 out of 5 Americans could not afford the medicine they were prescribed. The result: Millions of Americans became sicker, and some ended up in emergency rooms at great cost. Others unnecessarily lost their lives.

It is beyond comprehension that while Americans are suffering and dying because they cannot afford the medications they need, the 10 highest-paid chief executives in the pharmaceutical industry collectively made $327 million in 2015. These executives get richer while Americans die. That’s not acceptable.

The root of this problem is that we are the only major country not to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. You can walk into a pharmacy today and the price could be double or even triple what you paid for the same medicine a year ago, and there are no legal barriers in place to stop these arbitrary increases. Pharmaceutical corporations can raise prices as high as the market allows. If people die, it is not their concern. If people get sicker, it is not a problem for them.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bernie-sanders-will-trump-have-the-guts-to-stand-up-to-drug-companies/2017/02/02/92dfd4b2-e957-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html?utm_term=.ed8f98056ab0&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[Trust Buster]

1. Trump just met with Big Pharma and bowed to them. Bernie needs to wake up already.

[randome]

2. Until he shows the courage of his convictions and joins the Democratic Party...

...I'm really not interested in what he has to say.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Meredith McIver approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Well, Then There's A Split

He still has what i see as the best interests of the people as his primary focus. What letter comes after his name is far less important, and given his status in the Capital among Dem leadership, they seem to lean toward my POV.

[RDANGELO]

4. A bigger question may be, can he get the Republican congress to do anything.

[workinclasszero]

5. He has already accepted Big Pharma's Big Bribe

And tossed the promise of lower drug prices he made to the suckers that voted for him into the trash can.