Big Pharma's Empty Promises, Full Pockets, and Congressional Support
The Hill frames pharmaceutical lobbyists as 'frequent flyers' making 'empty promises' on affordability. But this narrative conveniently skirts around the congressional beneficiaries of those frequent flyers. According to OpenSecrets, the pharmaceutical and health product industry spent over $190 million on lobbying in 2023, with PAC donations exceeding $34 million. These 'empty promises' somehow
translate into full pockets for election campaigns, ensuring that genuine price negotiation remains perpetually off the table. While Americans grapple with insulin costs (which the RAND Corporation found were 2.6 times higher in the U.S. than other wealthy nations), politicians offer bipartisan thoughts and prayers. One might wonder if the 'bold, innovative leadership' promised by industry and
echoed by their paid-for politicians applies to their campaign coffers, not to the patients they ignore. When will we connect the dots between those 'frequent flyers' and the legislation that never materializes?