Once Again, Biden’s Going to Bat For Big Pharma.
Our politicians will always protect their donors.
Every once in a while, I’ll remember that there was a time when Joe Biden was being referred to as the next FDR. Called FDR 2.0 by the media. They really, really wanted us to believe he was the answer, didn’t they? So much more reasonable then Bernie Sanders but still a champion of the same values, right?
Yeah, not so much.
Recently, Reuters published:
“The U.S. government will not force Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Astellas Pharma Inc (4503.T) to lower the price of their prostate cancer drug Xtandi using its emergency “march-in” authority, a federal agency said on Tuesday.
March-in rights, which have never been used before, allow the government to grant additional licenses to third parties for products developed using federal funds if the original patent holder does not make them available to the public on reasonable terms…”
In response, Bernie Sanders’ Twitter account posted:
“I am extremely disappointed that the Biden Administration denied a petition to reduce the price of Xtandi. As HELP Committee chairman, I will do everything I can to make sure that drugs that are developed with U.S. taxpayer money are sold here at a reasonable price.”
“Extremely disappointed” doesn’t really even begin to cover it if we’re being honest.
Xtandi is a drug used to treat prostate cancer. If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer and are uninsured or underinsured, this drug costs $14,383 for 120 pills according to Drugs.com. Suffice it to say that the overwhelming majority of people probably can’t afford to pay that, can they? Instead they’ll take out a second mortgage or sell their house or their car — if they even have one — just so they can survive. If they don’t, then our lawmakers have made the policy choice to allow them to die.
That is the state of healthcare in the United States of America. The supposed shining city on the hill and the land of opportunity, where everything is available to you if you just work hard enough, right? In reality, we all know this is what we do to our citizens. This is how much value is put upon our lives by those who have the power to directly impact them with their actions.
Pay up, or die.
Personally, I can remember being eleven years old having to write a letter to an insurance company to get them to cover a drug I was going to need, and of course, that pales in comparison to what other people have experienced at the hands of this brutal, unforgivable, inexcusable healthcare system. This system that politicians like Joe Biden have no intention of changing because their political careers depend on the continuity of the status quo.
‘Merica.
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