Opinion - Sen. Sanders: Sick of Big Pharma's Greed
Aug. 30, 2017
Excerpt:
Last year, the big drug companies spent $131 million alone to defeat a ballot initiative in California that would have required the state to pay no more than what the Veterans Administration pays for prescription drugs.
Meanwhile, as Americans are dying because they cannot afford the medications they need, the five largest drug companies in the U.S. made over $50 billion in profits in 2015, and the top ten pharmaceutical industry CEOs made $327 million in total compensation.
The former CEO of Gilead (John Martin) became a billionaire because his drug company charged $1,000 a pill for Sovaldi, a Hepatitis-C drug that costs $1 to manufacture. In India, the same drug can be bought for just four bucks.
Today, pharmaceutical companies are substantially increasing their profits because Congress has done nothing to stop them. Their only goal is to make as much profit as possible. They could care less about the American people.
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2017-08-30/bernie-sanders-take-on-big-pharma-and-lower-prescription-drug-prices
