“This was an unexpected victory in a long fight against an illegal cartel of three corporations who have raised their insulin prices in lockstep.”
The Biden Administration pleasantly stunned health care reform advocates Tuesday by including short-acting insulin in its list of 10 drugs for which Medicare will negotiate lower prices, power vested in the White House by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The IRA was passed in the face of one of the heftiest barrages of lobbying in congressional history, with the pharmaceutical industry spending more than $700 million over 2021 and 2022 — several times more than the second- and third-ranking industries — much of it aimed at stopping the legislation, watering it down, or undermining its implementation.
It must be getting close to a US election year. Suddenly, a Democratic president feigns to give a shit about the people who voted for him. Albeit grudgingly, of course, and knowing whatever he suggests now will be so watered down by the time it’s executed it will be like nothing happened at all.
You’re right, but also it’s better than nothing. If it were a republican in office they’d be doing the opposite and taking things away for the same reason, so I’ll take it.
If the end result is the same theres no need to go through the song and dance. They will do all this carrot/stick politicking until the primaries then drop all discussion of progressive talk. Rince and repeat every 2 years.
I’ve never understood that expression. The gift horse was hiding Greek soldiers that sacked the city. If someone had looked inside, Troy might not have fallen.
I don’t think the original expression had anything to do with the Trojan horse.
I believe the original relates to the fact that one of the ways you check the health and condition of a horse is to check its teeth. But if someone is giving you a horse as a gift, it’s rude to check the teeth as it implies you think they’ve sold you a lemon.
So it just means ‘be grateful for what you’re given’. So I think the Troy parallel is just a coincidence.
I could be talking absolute rubbish though.
How is that even applicable to this situation? It’s not as if he’s going to actually make this happen. There’s not even an actual gift horse to look in the mouth. It’s just political theater.
I almost would rather he just callously tell us pharma profits and campaign donations are more important to him and his stock portfolio than our health care needs. But that’s the kind of honesty we got from the last guy… and nobody in their right mind wants him back despite his, uh, version of “honesty” 🤮
Dumb idea, I know nothing about this all. What about alternatively opening up across-the-border purchases, allowing people to legally buy from other countries at a fraction of current US prices. Drug companies can still set their US, uncontrolled prices at whatever they want, & no one has to buy it from them. It’d be like, a Free Market at work. I know this is oversimplified & there’s a lot of complications I’m not aware of, but, just a thought. Also, speaking of unconstitutional, isn’t group collusion to manipulate the market a violation of Sherman Anti-Trust law? Just saying.
How do you make sure the drugs purchased overseas are safe? FDA has pretty tight control over the industry in the US to maintain that here.
For sure a valid question. My presumption is that the same drugs legally produced & sold under that country’s regulations would have a reasonable factor of safety. Good enough for their own people anyway. I think also if I’m faced with the decision, no insulin because I can’t afford it, or drugs only approved to Country X standards, I’m already in a risky situation. For sure some people are already doing this & having to do so illegally.
This is, quite frankly, a very poor assumption depending on where you are getting your drugs from. For example, Dr. Reddy in India is the equivalent of buying a “Channel” knock off purse from China. It looks like the real thing, it might even somewhat function like the real thing. But it some serious flaws.
European drugs, alternatively, are often literally the exact same drug for cheaper because the EMA is much stricter about pricing. But there are also laws that prevent exporting it from EU countries just as there are laws preventing importing into the US. Because international trade is not open.
Source: I work in Pharma.
Another song and dance, the guy that been the highest recipient of pharma lobbying isnt gonna hurt their profits. The shellgame will just shift money around until election day to make it look like hes doing good for us
I don’t know how this is a negotiation…big pharma overcharges the USA by a lot…we all know it. How is this not illegal? Why are they not held accountable for inflating prices for 1 group of people? Imagine if they did the to just a single race…black, white, Asian, whatever… Is t it the same thing?
It’s not illegal because it isn’t illegal to set a price that the market can bear.
They’re not increasing prices for just one group of people, which may or may not be illegal, but rather setting a price for a given product.
This is the crux of why this has been such a tough nut to crack.
A product which is only necessary for one group of people. A group who, through circumstances likely beyond their control, need that medication to maintain a healthy life. Thinking of life saving medication as a product to be sold is the problem.
I don’t disagree with your intent, but this is not the way laws work in the United States. I generally share your opinion that our current methodology is not the way laws should work, but that does not change the present reality.
You asked, “How is this not illegal” and I answered that question.
Didnt trump tried to do this?
