WASHINGTON — President Trump has vilified the pharmaceutical industry and made bold promises to lower prescription drug prices. But when it comes to staffing the health care agencies empowered to oversee those efforts, he has turned regularly to the pharmaceutical industry.
His Food and Drug Administration chief, Scott Gottlieb, was a longtime industry investor and adviser to major players like GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb. A senior adviser at the Health and Human Services Department, Keagan Lenihan, joined the administration after running the lobby shop for the drug and distribution giant McKesson. And Trump has a former Gilead lobbyist, Joe Grogan, reviewing health care regulations at the Office of Management and Budget. The chief of staff at HHS, Lance Leggitt, lobbied for a whole host of drug clients, even last year.
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He is stocking the swap with hungry alligators.
It is no secret that Big Pharma has a heavy hand in shaping healthcare policy and guiding decision-making inside the beltway, this latest news is yet another slap in the face to Americans. While Big Pharma finds ways to increase and protect their profits, the American public struggles to affordable their medications.