Dear John,

The only way we’re going to beat the coronavirus is if everyone -- regardless of their income, zip code, or the color of their skin -- has access to the tools they need to be safe and healthy. That’s why it couldn’t be more important that we make sure drug companies aren’t allowed to use this deadly pandemic as another opportunity to price-gouge Americans on lifesaving medications -- medications that are being made possible by taxpayer funded research.

We have to put the interests of the American people above pharmaceutical executives’ profits. So this week, I joined Senator Tina Smith in introducing the Make Medications Affordable by Preventing Pandemic Price-gouging (MMAPPP) Act, legislation supported by 40 organizations, including AFL-CIO and the Oregon Nurses Association, that would ensure that any coronavirus treatments and vaccines are affordable for everyone.

This bill would prohibit monopolies; ban exclusive licensing of taxpayer-funded drugs that are used to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat the coronavirus; and require that the federal government mandate affordable prices for the drugs. In addition, the legislation would require manufacturers to publicly report a breakdown of drug companies’ manufacturing costs, including which costs were taxpayer funded, and also prevent drug companies from setting astronomical prices to treat future public health emergencies. 

Just this week, we saw that one of the companies working on a vaccine -- whose work has been entirely taxpayer-funded -- is planning to charge more than $70 per person for vaccination. That’s SEVEN times more than what European vaccine makers are planning to charge. There should be no room for price gouging or profiteering when it comes to ending this horrific national and global emergency. 

We can’t fight this pandemic alone. Please know that I’m going to keep doing everything I can to ensure that every Oregonian can access the tools they need -- including a vaccine when it becomes available -- to stay healthy and make it through this difficult time. 

All my best,
Jeff