As expected earlier, the staged political “outrage” at pharmaceutical price increases, a carbon-copy of events witnessed a year ago – which is ironic as everyone in Congress is very well aware why drug prices have been soaring over the past sevearl years – is unfolding before our eyes regarding the scapegoat du jour of the “greedy” pharmaceutical industry, in this case Epipen maker Mylan, where moments ago Hillary Clinton joined the fray, calling on the company to voluntarily drop the price of EpiPen, which has increased in price by 400 percent in the past decade. “That’s outrageous – and it’s just the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers,” Clinton said in a statement. “It’s wrong when drug companies put profits ahead of patients, raising prices without justifying the value behind them.”
It is also wrong when banks and corporations donate millions to a “charity” to purchase future favors but let’s ignore that.
Hillary’s outrage follows a statement by the American Medical Association which also urged Mylan to “rein in exorbitant costs” of EpiPens, and moments ago White House spox Earnest also chimed in, saying that while he won’t second guess the pricing strategies of Mylan, said that drug “companies that are greedy hurt their reputations.”
Earlier, the Senate Special Committee on Aging asked Mylan CEO Heather Bresch for briefing from the company “at a mutually convenient time no later than two weeks from today,” the panel’s leaders say in letter to her. A letter from panel’s chair, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and its top Democrat, Claire McCaskill of Mo., requests information that led to EpiPen price increases
“Local school districts and taxpayers are affected by these price hikes because many schools stock epinephrine auto- injectors to protect students”: lawmakers ‘‘We are particularly concerned that seniors have access to EpiPen”
However, as shown earlier, because Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is the daughter of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, so far there has been no calls for her to actually appear in Congress. As we said, putting Bresch on the hotseat would reveal to the American public that the real culprit behind soaring drug and device prices is not just “greedy CEOs”, but also Congress itself, whether by way of accepting pharma lobbying dollars, due to family connections, or simply as a result of a flawed regulatory regime.
Also, it may lead to questions why the IRR on big pharma lobbying of congress is a staggering 77,500% according to a 2012 calculation.
Perhaps the media will inquire into just what these pharma companies get in exchange for their lobbying dollars…
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