Bernie Investigating Drug Price Gouging Before CEO Raised AIDS Drug Price: Here are the Details

[Catherina]

Bernie Investigating Drug Price Gouging Before CEO Raised AIDS Drug Price: Here are the Details

— September 22, 2015

While the media and politicians are jumping on the train to crucify the CEO who raised the price of a crucial AIDS medication from $13.50 per pill to $750 per bill, Bernie Sanders was investigating the issue long before the media became aware of the problem.

It turns out that Martin Shkreli, the 32-year-old CEO who raised the price of the AIDS drug, is part of a new shoddy and immoral practice of investors buying the rights to older drugs and then raising their prices sharply. This might be news to everyone else, but not Bernie Sanders.

Bernie, along with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), have been vocal about the problem for some time, and have been sending letters demanding more information from companies that do it. Last week, they sent a letter to a company called Valeant, who raised the price of a heart drug more than 500 percent the day it bought the rights to it. Last year, Bernie and Cummings went after the company that raised the price of Doxycycline, a common antibiotic, from $20 a bottle in 2013 to $1,849 by 2014.

...

Ask yourself whether you want a President who is clueless and simply acts outraged when the media exposes an issue, or would you rather have a President who knows about an issue way before the media and has been investigating it?

http://ringoffireradio.com/2015/09/bernie-was-investigating-recent-drug-price-gouging-long-before-ceo-raised-price-on-aids-drug-now-bernies-invesigating-ceo/

Published on May 23, 2012
On May 23, 2012, Senator Bernie Sanders criticized the exorbitant prices Americans pay for prescription drugs and the enormous amount of fraud that takes place within the pharmaceutical industry.

Uploaded on May 15, 2009
Sen. Bernie Sanders gives a rousing floor speech on the greed and power of the pharmaceutical industry in Washington. After the speech, iconic, veteran Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia stands and says Thank God for Bernie Sanders. Sail on brother!

Back to Work: Bernie Sanders Tackles Big Pharma and Their Huge Prices - September 10, 2015

[beam me up scottie]

1. He's been taking on the drug companies for years.

Anyone who doesn't realize this is clueless.

[Angry Dragon]

2. go Bernie

[saturnsring]

3. ineffectively apparently

[arcane1]

5. Too much of Congress is bought and paid for on BOTH sides of the aisle n/t

[magical thyme]

4. K&R

[LostOne4Ever]

6. Sad thing is that the only News Media Outlet that mentioned this

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]was CNBC...

Yuck!

The media needs to start TRYING to appear unbiased.[/font]

[Fawke Em]

8. Chris Hayes on MSNBC interviewed Bernie about it tonight.

So there's two.

[LWolf]

7. K & R

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Catherina.

[merrily]

10. Uncle Joe did a brilliant post on this, too:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=612856

Thanks, Catherina!

[leftofcool]

11. Years of investigation and yet nothing got done?

[Lancero]

13. Big money has a way of impeding progress.

[appalachiablue]

12. K & R. Terrific OP. Yes Bernie's been active with this issue for many years. Since 1999

he's taken cancer patients (esp. breast cancer) and others to Canada to buy medicine at 1/10th the cost in the US.

Go Bernie Go!