Dear Katy, Big Pharma knows it can count on Donald Trump to make noise about drug prices but stay loyal to pharmaceutical companies. After all, Trump appointed Alex Azar, whose company tripled the price of insulin and faces an investigation, as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.1 But the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has real plans to crack down on Big Pharma. At the top of the list is a new bill from Rep. Ro Khanna and Sen. Bernie Sanders that would force pharmaceutical companies to reduce their prices or lose their lucrative monopolies.2 We need to show how many Americans support bold action against Big Pharma by getting behind this progressive proposal in a big way. Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans. Click here to sign the petition. America, unlike most other countries, allows Big Pharma to set its own prices, hold exclusive patents with no limit and corner the market on a particular drug and jack up the price.3 So far in 2018, for every one cut in pharmaceutical prices, there were 96 drug price hikes. Pfizer already announced it will jack up prices on 41 more drugs in 2019. Meanwhile, 1 in 5 Americans cannot afford the medicine they need.4 No more. That's why we are standing with our friends at Social Security Works to support the big, bold, progressive Khanna-Sanders plan. The Khanna and Sanders bill is simple. It says that Big Pharma must sell medicine for the same price or cheaper in the United States than it does in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Japan. If companies don't, the government will take away their monopoly – allowing other companies to produce cheaper, generic versions of the exact same drug.5 Almost every politician claims to want to do something about skyrocketing drug prices. Now we have a progressive plan that could lower prices by more than 40 percent across the board.6 Members of Congress must choose between Big Pharma's deep pockets and the American people's health. Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans. Click here to sign the petition. One recent study found that taxpayer funding helped develop every single one of the 210 new FDA-approved medicines between 2010 and 2016. We are investing in new cures while Big Pharma spends more on advertising than research and development and ridiculously claims that companies need obscene profits to fund new cures.7 Big Pharma cannot keep charging Americans more for the same drugs – and members of Congress must take a clear stand to stop it. Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/sanders_khanna_big_pharma?t=8&akid=30787%2E12967895%2EhVsFdi Thank you for speaking out, Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Alex Lawson, "Sanders and Khanna have a plan to lower your drug prices," The Hill, Nov. 18, 2018.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders, "Sanders, Khanna to Introduce Legislation to Drastically Lower Prescription Drug Prices," Nov. 20, 2018.
- Ibid.
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- Zach Carter, "Bernie Sanders And Ro Khanna Have A New Plan To Tackle Prescription Drug Rip-Offs," HuffPost, Nov. 19, 2018.
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