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Alex Azar speaks about his efforts to lower drug prices multiple times each week with President Trump, he said Tuesday. But it is his conversations with other Republicans on that issue that have often proven more difficult, the Health and Human Services secretary acknowledged.

The conservative resistance to several key Trump administration proposals to bring down the cost of medicine is substantial enough that Azar isn’t even seeking praise from members of his own party — he counts Republicans’ tempered criticisms of the administration’s signature proposal to cap some U.S. payments for drugs as a win.

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“Let me put it this way: I don’t think you’ve seen any Republican leadership or Republican chairman come out firmly against what we’re doing,” Azar said. “They’re remaining open-minded and considering it.”

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  • I read your article with great interest as I’m presently working 24/7 against a huge problem with an “old” drug that was recently approved as new by simply adding a preservative through a loophole in a badly written law with unintended consequences.

    Rather than inventing new laws, FIX THE OLD ONES! That would go a long way to fix the problems.

  • Normalizing any of this really ought to be a crime. People like Azar, and our paid for congresspeople, are why we are here. Azar as any other swamp creature, industry insider, is no more capable than any of the others. America is so full of lies, a, and misinformation, that presenting any of this as normal is adding to the problem, and just more misinformation.

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