Will Voter Anger About High Drug Prices Overcome Big Pharma?

The post Will Voter Anger About High Drug Prices Overcome Big Pharma? appeared first on WhoWhatWhy.

Skyrocketing drug prices are forcing millions of Americans to make tough choices. Will they spend their money on groceries or prescription drugs?

Will they be able to afford the prescribed dose of medicine or will they have to cut their pills in half to stretch out their medicine supplies?

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 44% of Americans worry about being able to afford their prescription drugs. Polls have consistently found overwhelming support by rank-and-file voters for drug price reforms, such as requiring drug companies to release information on how they set prices, allowing the government to negotiate with the drug companies on Medicare prices, and limiting how much drug companies can charge for pricey medications for illnesses such as hepatitis or cancer.

Yet, because of the immense political power of the pharmaceutical lobby, none of these proposals has ever come close to passing in Congress.

“The reason you hear people are going across the border to Canada to buy drugs is because Canada does not let drug companies get up one morning and raise the price of a drug by 400% like Mylan did with EpiPen.”

When it comes to campaign donations to members of Congress, Big Pharma is consistently near the top. Drug companies’ total contributions to candidates for Senate and House seats per election cycle have hovered around $30 million. Little wonder that earlier this year, a popular piece of legislation that would have allowed Americans to buy cheaper Canadian prescription drugs was easily defeated in the Senate by a vote of 52 to 46.

While Washington has largely failed to act on legislation to rein in the high price of many prescription drugs, this coming November Ohio voters will be able to vote on a ballot initiative that claims to do just that. The initiative would require Ohio state agencies that buy prescription drugs to purchase them at the same discounted rates that the Veterans Administration (VA) pays, which is 20 to 24% less than the going market rate. Supporters of the initiative state that it would lower drug costs for four million Ohioans and save Ohio taxpayers $400 million a year.

Backers of the initiative are banking on grassroots anger at the high costs of medicine to put the measure over the top this November. Recent headlines about Mylan jacking up the price of the drug EpiPen 400% have helped stoke consumer outrage. Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals and recently convicted of three counts of securities fraud, became Public Enemy #1 in the eyes of many when he raised the price of the life-saving anti-parasite drug Darapin over 5,000%.

Initiative backer Dr. Robert Ruff, a former chief neurologist for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) stated, “It’s somewhat akin to a mugger confronting an innocent person on the street.    

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