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Dear John,
President Biden’s Commerce Department is introducing a new plan to take on Big Pharma, and they need to hear from us now during the official comment period to demonstrate our support.
It’s actually based on a law that has been on the books for years, but has never been implemented until now. The law says that when the American taxpayers pay a pharmaceutical company to research and develop a new drug, and then the drug goes on the market, Americans will not be charged 2 to 3 times more than people are in other countries for the same medication.
If Big Pharma insists on overcharging Americans for drugs we have paid to create, the federal government will exercise its “march-in rights” and license another company to manufacture and produce it more cheaply.
Click here to access a simple tool and register an official comment with the Commerce Department to demonstrate our support and let them know we are watching to see that it works. You can send a sample letter, or personalize it for maximum effect.
The intention is that the government will not need to exercise “march-in rights” very often. The hope is that simply the fact that the administration is prepared to do so will cause the companies to price their medications in accordance with the legislative guidelines.
But if they do not, the Biden administration will utilize an effective means of bringing the prices under control.
This is not the first time the administration has stood up to Big Pharma, as multiple lawsuits by the pharmaceutical companies will attest. For the first time ever, there is a cap on insulin prices. Under President Biden’s policies, reversing the policies of George W. Bush, Medicare is negotiating lower drug prices for the first time in decades.
Big Pharma is seeking to create loopholes to enable them to continue to gouge the American people for life-saving medications. They need to know we are paying attention and we support the Biden Administration’s use of “march-in rights” to lower drug costs.
Click here to make your voice heard during the official comment period.
Thank you for holding Big Pharma’s feet to the fire and insisting that, after ponying up for research and development costs, the American people should not be taken advantage of by greedy pharmaceutical companies.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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