Sanders unveils aggressive new bill targeting drug prices

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill



BY PETER SULLIVAN - 11/20/18 09:00 AM EST

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Tuesday unveiled a bill aimed at aggressively lowering drug prices by stripping monopolies from drug companies if their prices are deemed excessive.

Sanders has long railed against drug companies for their prices, and this bill is one of the most far-reaching proposals aimed at lowering them.

The bill would strip the monopoly from a company, regardless of any patents, and allow other companies to create cheaper generic versions of a drug, if the price for that drug is higher than the median price in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan. “No other country allows pharmaceutical companies to charge any price they want for any reason they want,” Sanders, who could run for president again in 2020, said in a statement.

“The greed of the prescription drug industry is literally killing Americans and it has got to stop,” he added.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/417570-sanders-unveils-aggressive-new-bill-targeting-drug-prices

[zentrum]

1. Thank you once again, Bernie.

[onit2day]

18. When will someone stop this pain med restriction mandated by the government

Drs are being threatened in Mo and other states to halt pain meds to pts, many elderly dying pts. who have been taking them without problem for years. Take away the pain not the pain med.

[babylonsister]

2. Good for Bernie and us. nt

[still_one]

3. While this is a good thing, using NHS and Canada as the model may not be good, especially in regard

to NHS. They have a major crisis over their now in their system, and some important drugs are not even available because of their costs over there along with shortages.

While using international models for prices is a good starting point, we need to implement regulation in the pharmaceutical industry to not only disallow price gouging, but regulate prices.

One of the best ways to control prices is to encourage more generics by limiting patents

[luvtheGWN]

10. Many years ago, Canada outlawed prescription drug advertising

on TV and in print. Pharma companies spend billions more on advertising than they do on R and D. Personally, when I watch American TV channels, I get bloody tired of all the pharma ads.

[tclambert]

12. But then how will you know to ask about Prevnar 13?

I always wonder what happened to Prevnars One through Twelve. Didn't they work out?

[democrank]

4. Right again.

Drug industry greed must stop.

[rgbecker]

5. From Bernie its just one good idea after another.

The guy is setting up the Democrats for success as all potential candidates for 2020 will have to bring his ideas along or something even better.

[Perrenial Voter]

6. I'm not sure this will work because the industry become

so concentrated in just a few companies that even generic drugs that are not protected by patents are only manufactured by one company. If you take away a legal monopoly but continue to have a defacto monopoly, it may not make much difference. OTOH, if the NIH started manufacturing and distributing drugs itself, that might inject some competition into the market and could save the government huge amounts of money for medicare and medicaid

[RobertDevereaux]

7. Thanks, Bernie...

Big Pharma needs to be brought to heel.

[mastermind]

8. thank you Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna nt

[Rizen]

9. Sounds good.

[JayhawkSD]

11. That's fine, good move. He should introduce another bill.

A bill to ban advertising any medication which requires a doctor's prescription. "Ask your doctor about..."

The law requires this "verbal warning label" with an endless list of how to take it and when not to take it and what conditions it can cause. I am sick to death of listening to warnings about medications I am not going to take because they are for conditions I don't have. Even if I had the condition, I would use a cheaper version of the outrageously priced crap they are advertising.

If I did take the crap they are advertising, I would hear all those warnings both from the doctor who prescribed it, and from the pharmacist who filled the prescription, so why the hell do I need to hear it on the stupid television ad?

Sorry. Thank you for letting me rant.

[Lucky Luciano]

13. That bastard!

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. How dare he work so hard! Is he just trying to upstage REAL Democrats?

What about his tax returns?!!!

[Power 2 the People]

20. LOL

[tclambert]

14. I like this for two reasons:

1) It gets the idea out there. Even if it doesn't pass, future legislators will think about it from time to time, and one day they may bring it up again when it can pass.

2) It will get Republicans on record opposing it. It's something the people will obviously favor, and they will see one party cares more about greed and big business than about the people.

[Puppyjive]

16. Drug commercials

Get the drug commercials off the tv. It might kill the 24 hour news cycle as well.

[7962]

17. They did it with tobacco, so why not drugs?

I never remember shingles being the scourge of America until someone developed a vaccine against it

[Maxheader]

19. The pharmy nazis will howl..

They'll say they need those prices to pay for their genius r & d flunkys....without which we wouldn't get all these terrific medications...At least that's what they've said in the past..

[TomCADem]

21. If It Is A Bernie Bill, Chances Don't Look Good

Look at trade. This has been a signature issue of his for decades, but he hasn’t got any trade bills passed. Instead, Trump stole Bernie’s trade platform and now Bernie is trying to distance himself from it.

[Eric J in MN]

22. Chances are that nothing good will pass during the next 2 years.

Pass into law, that is.