Biden praises Pharma to donors despite complaints about prices

[BeyondGeography]

WASHINGTON Joe Biden praised pharmaceutical companies on Saturday, offering a line that could draw pushback from Democratic opponents who have demonized the industry's focus on profits.

"By the way, great drug companies out there except a couple of opioid outfits," the former vice president told donors at the Dallas home of David Genecov, a craniofacial surgeon.

Biden's comment came during a discussion of medical research and the cancer "moonshot" initiative he launched during the Obama administration following the death of his son, Beau Biden, in 2015. That effort included his push for companies to collaborate more on research. But he sounded a discordant note in praising the companies themselves and not the research he intended to praise specifically given the near-universal agreement in both parties that companies set drug prices too high, and given his own efforts to further regulate the industry.

...His top two rivals, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have demonized pharmaceutical companies for what they consider putting profit over patient care.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-tns-bc-biden-20190915-story.html

[OKNancy]

1. the part you snipped

The Biden campaign's healthcare proposal includes a segment on fighting pharmaceutical companies' price structures.

"Too many Americans cannot afford their prescription drugs, and prescription drug corporations are profiteering off of the pocketbooks of sick individuals," according to the Biden campaign website. "The Biden plan will put a stop to runaway drug prices and the profiteering of the drug industry."

[BeyondGeography]

2. So pharmy isn't doing a heckuva job then, right?

But, you know, donors.

[George II]

4. They are doing "a heckuva job", they're finding cures for diseases every week....

....and doing medical research to the tune of millions, if not billions of dollars. Is there anything wrong with that?

Remember, businesses can NOT contribute to political campaigns and individuals can not contribute more than $2800 to a campaign per year.

[vsrazdem]

9. Yea, as long as they are sure they can make money of what they are researching. Just read this

morning where pharmaceutical companies are not doing research on new antibiotics, even though they have been warned the new superbugs are not reacting to current meds, beacause the antibiotics are too cheap and they can't make a big enough profit off then, so why bother. I mean really, who cares if people die of infections, because ya know, research is expensive.

[George II]

13. There are almost 50 antibiotics currently in development:

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/data-visualizations/2014/antibiotics-currently-in-clinical-development

[vsrazdem]

14. Really

https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/news/85936/big-pharma-accused-of-no-action-on-antibiotic-threat/

https://www.businessinsider.com/major-pharmaceutical-companies-dropping-antibiotic-projects-superbugs-2018-7

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2019/02/letter-urges-congressional-action-stimulate-antibiotic-development

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/drug-companies-arent-making-new-antibiotics-economic-cure

https://www.statnews.com/2018/12/10/holding-pharma-back-from-next-antibiotic-breakthrough/

[George II]

15. Really:

antibiotics_currently_in_global_clinical_development:

https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2019/08/arp_antibiotics_currently_in_global_clinical_development_data_table_v2.pdf

[Kurt V.]

3. Excessively high drug prices are a result of patent monopolies. she has a plan for that :)

[dalton99a]

5. Repeal the ban on negotiating drug prices for Medicare.

[Politicub]

6. Sigh. Drug manufacturers are corrupt.

Even those that aren’t “opioid outfits” are ghoulish in how they price drugs.

What crystallized this for me was looking up drug prices for pharmaceuticals advertised on TV. I use the GoodRx app to find prices.

A drug for plaque psoriasis — Skyrizi — just aired on CNN. The cost? One package of two syringes is $24,983. I almost blew coffee all over my iPad after seeing that.

Some other examples:

Vraylar, a new drug for bipolar disorder, costs $1,259 for a month’s supply.

Saxenda, an injectable that curbs hunger for weight loss, is $1,303 per month.

Lucemyra is especially insidious. It’s a drug that helps with opioid withdrawal. The price? $2,034 for 96 tablets. The industry gets people hooked on cheap hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl and then charges thousands for a drug that aids withdrawal.

This has to stop. The costs for new drugs will only continue to rise if the government doesn’t pass legislation to cap costs. This is also why it will cost trillions for a single payer solution for all Americans.

Money from pharmaceutical companies is dirty. It is earned off the backs of sick people. I would like to see all of the candidates refuse donations from these companies.

[mopinko]

7. even common drugs-

i take an inhaled steroid for asthma.
i had to pay out of pocket for my meds for a while. when i went to pick this one up, the pharmacist was shaking his head. $275 for one month.

i tried to find a cheaper med, but all the ones i saw were the exact same price. exact same.

this drug is still under patent. but here is the thing. it's the same steroid in flonase. larger amount of the same thing, in a squirt bottle, instead of a little spray can- $20.
and it is available as a generic.

what kind of hinky shit is that?

[Politicub]

8. It isn't right. The price of generics and out-of-patent drugs should always trend down.

But the opposite is happening.

It is heartbreaking to see the total on the cash register at the pharmacy being hundreds of dollars for people in the line in front of me.

[vsrazdem]

10. I take Advair, which without insurance is over $500 for a month supply. What I don't understand is

this drug has been off of patent for over 2 years and not until last month was there finally a generic, but Medicare is still not authorizing the generic to be provided, What's that about?

[vsrazdem]

11. Also, why is it that when they decided inhalers could not longer use the same delivery system after

the ban on carbo-whatever the hell they were called, did the generatic albuterol change to ProAir, and huge price increase for the same generic drug, just using a different delivery component. It's like the people with asthma and COPD have to pay the price to have the clean air.

[mopinko]

12. ya know, that one is a pet peeve of mine- albuterol should be otc!!

i see no reason whatsoever why you have to have a rx for an asthma inhaler. back in the day you could buy a dangerous epinephrine otc, but needed a rx for albuterol.
instead of admitting that a lot of people have asthma, many of them poor, w shitty access to care, they just took the otc off the market.

if you cant see a doc once a year, you cant keep your script. there is no way to abuse albuterol.
why the hell isnt it just otc?