WASHINGTON — Of all his campaign promises, President Trump’s vow to bring down drug prices was perhaps the most popular.
An assortment of interest groups spoke out loudly and passionately on the need for action, from hospitals to doctors to insurers to generic drug makers to patients themselves.
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So really it all boils down to one big reason: the health care lobby and its many moving parts.
Anonymous say: “pharma does stock buybacks just like other companies- what’s wrong with that”. I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Other companies ‘ customers don’t rely on them as a matter of life and death. Pharma companies should not be operating like hedge funds which is exactly how they now operate. As far as funding research you’ve got it totally backwards. The NIH is in the business of funding the riskiest research. You should read up on how all these wonderful drugs you think were dreamed up by pharma had their origins in NIH (taxpayer funded) research. I mentioned Sovaldi earlier as just one example. The new carT therapies are another example. Fundamental research in this country is still funded mostly by the NIH but Republicans may succeed in gutting that too before they’re through.