Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. We can tell because the short person dashed to the local schoolhouse and our official mascot is entranced by squirrels and chipmunks, rather than napping in the corner. As for us, this means we have time to fire up the coffee kettle for a cup of stimulation — cinnamon dolce is our choice today for those who track this sort of indulgence — and scrounge about for items of interest. Speaking of which, here are some tidbits. Hope your day goes well and you conquer the world …
The fate of Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing bill rests in the hands of lawmakers who received more campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry than almost all other Democrats, STAT says. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, received $111,500 in contributions from industry political action committees in the 2018 election cycle, the fifth-most of any lawmaker. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, received $98,500, good for ninth-most.
Worried drug makers are stepping up efforts to blunt proposals in Washington that they view as some of the most serious threats to their pricing power in recent years, The Wall Street Journal notes. Industry trade groups and outsiders are spending millions of dollars on ads attacking the proposals, which would peg drug prices in the U.S. to prices paid overseas and force companies to pay rebates if prices increase by more than the rate of inflation. For instance, one trade group’s radio ad decries “foreign price controls” imposed by European bureaucrats.
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