Last week, Big Pharma scored a win, thanks to the betrayal of over a dozen Democratic Senators who voted against an amendment that would have allowed Americans to purchase life-saving drugs at much lower prices through reimportation from pharmacies in other countries, such as Canada.
That amendment was introduced by one of the few real statesmen and servant of the People remaining in Congress – Bernie Sanders. Senator Sanders, as well as millions of constituents across the nation, are justifiably angry at this betrayal. However, there is a silver lining, and reason for optimism that the days of Big Pharma’s stranglehold on American consumers are numbered.
The most significant part of what happened last week, which has largely flown under the radar, is that a dozen Republicans actually voted in favor of Sanders’ amendment. While this defection from the usual party line did not happen in time to save the bill, it demonstrates that the dynamics of this ongoing battle is undergoing a shift.
What is even more significant is the list of names among the GOP defectors. Among them: Ted Cruz of Texas, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John McCain of Arizona. Another one was the freshman GOP Senator from Louisiana, John Kennedy, who received more support from Trump in the recent election than any other GOP Congressional candidate.
Of course, Trump’s recent statement that “drug companies are getting away with murder” sent pharmaceutical stocks into a tailspin – and made the entire industry very nervous. Whether or not Trump will follow through on this statement remains to be seen, but in light of last week’s vote as well as increasing outrage over Big Pharma’s predatory price gouging of US health care consumers, it is becoming clear that the fight over drug prices is no longer a partisan issue.
There is another reason why Big Pharma is concerned. This year, a significant number of best-selling medications will be losing their patent protections this year. Among them: Sandostatin LAR from Novartis, a treatment for acromegaly (a dysfunction of the pituitary gland, causing excess growth), Merck’s Vytorin, a cholesterol-lowering medication, and the HIV prescription Reyataz, a product of Bristol-Meyers. These “blockbuster” drugs, as well as others, have generated tens of billions of dollars for the industry – but they will soon be facing competition from lower-priced generic versions.
It is always possible that pharmaceutical industry lobbyists could show up at Congressional offices with their usual bundles of cash and attempt to purchase some kind of legislation that would keep those patent protections in place. However, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle facing growing wrath from their constituents over the issue of drug pricing and increasing public anger and contempt for the industry, it is becoming less and less likely that such bribes are going to be effective.