My response to the
post on a US mailing list by the US Presidential Candidate Bernie
Sanders dated September 13, 2015
I and probably
not a few in the world are encouraged by the news of
increasing support of US citizens to the presidential candidate Sanders
willing to combat healthcare-related issues at a full scale from the
standpoint of consumers. His plan on prescription drug price reforms will be
more effective if combined with drastic actions against rip-off
(over-billing; Bottakuri) at hospitals. I hope a good model of healthcare
reform will be presented from the US to the world, triggering global
campaigns against greedy health/life merchants ("health/life
mongers").
Ichiro Fukumi
=====================================
From Bernie Sanders:
Back when I was in the U.S. House, I was the first member of Congress to
take constituents across the border to Canada to highlight the huge
disparity between the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. and other
nations.
On that first trip were a number of women struggling with breast cancer.
I will never forget the tears in the eyes of women who were able to buy the
breast cancer drug tamoxifen in Canada at one tenth of the price they were
paying for that drug in the U.S.
In 2014, the pharmaceutical industry spent over $250 million on lobbying and
campaign contributions -- far more than any other industry in America. This
grotesque spending results in Americans paying more money for medication
than anyone else in the world.
The time has come to say very loudly and very clearly that enough is enough.
The greed of the pharmaceutical industry is killing Americans. It has got to
stop.
Last year, 35 million Americans could not get their prescriptions filled
because they could not afford it.
People should not have to go without the medication they need just because
their elected officials aren’t willing to challenge the drug and health
care industry lobby. Yet that is exactly what is happening.
I have a plan to change this. Last week I introduced a bill in the Senate ?
and when I am president, I will work to make it law ? that will stop the
soaring costs of prescription drug prices.
Add your name to support my plan to reduce drug prices and send a message to
Congress and the prescription drug lobbyists that Americans should not die
because they can't afford drugs. Click here to support my plan.
My plan to reduce prescription drug prices is based around getting a better
deal for the American people, and keeping drug companies in check over
outrageous and unfair practices.
Medicare should negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical
industry. Due to a provision in law written by the pharmaceutical industry,
Medicare is banned from using its purchasing power to lower prescription
drug prices. My plan will empower Medicare to negotiate lower costs for our
seniors, and save us all money.
Americans should be able to import drugs from Canada and other
well-regulated countries. Individuals, pharmacists, and wholesalers should
be able to import prescription drugs from licensed Canadian pharmacies.
Americans pay 40% more per person than Canadians for prescription drugs.
Anyone in our country should be able to take advantage of those savings for
medications they need.
We need better transparency around drug costs. Right now, the pharmaceutical
industry can arbitrarily set prices for drugs, and the public has very
little insight into why certain drugs cost what they do ? even though some
of the research costs are often funded with U.S. taxpayer dollars. I believe
that drug companies should tell us about how much drugs cost to research and
develop, how much taxpayer money went towards those costs, what drugs
actually cost in the United States, and how much they cost in other
countries.
Generic drugs should be widely available, and drug companies shouldn't be
able to pay off competitors to keep cheaper drugs off the market. Brand-name
drugs cost, on average, 10 times as much as generics. Right now, it is a
common practice for big drug companies to pay their competitors to restrict
generic drugs from the public. We need to ban this practice, and make
cheaper drugs readily available.
Drug companies that break the law should face severe penalties. If any drug
company is convicted of criminal or civil fraud, they should face severe
penalties including the prospect of losing their government-granted monopoly
on a drug. Over the last decade, most major-branded drug makers have either
settled or been convicted of fraud for violations including off-label
promotion, kickbacks, anti-monopoly practices, and Medicare fraud. It's time
to step up the penalties for breaking the law.
What good is it to live in the richest country on earth, if so many of our
people cannot afford medications that could save their lives?
The American people are sick and tired of paying the highest prices for
prescription drugs in the world. The skyrocketing prices of prescription
drugs are an example of the greed of the pharmaceutical companies that has
got to stop.
Now, I believe that the true solution is a national health care system that
puts people ahead of profits and health ahead of special interests, and I
will soon introduce legislation to provide a Medicare-for-all, single-payer
system to provide health care for all Americans.
But we must also address these outrageous costs of prescription drugs, and
my plan that I outlined here will do that.
Say you want to take on the prescription drug companies by adding your name
to support my plan. Click here to take action now.
Thank you for all you do.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders