Friend, As COVID-19 surged in Texas, Dr. Thomas Patterson was faced with a heartbreaking choice: Which of his patients would get the only drug authorized in the United States to treat COVID-19?

Hospitals around the country are facing shortages of remdesivir.[1] Only Gilead Sciences is allowed to sell remdesivir in the United States. This has made remdesivir frequently unavailable — and always unaffordable.

ADD YOUR NAME: It’s unacceptable for a pandemic treatment to be unavailable or unaffordable — in the US, or anywhere!

Remdesivir is the first drug shown to be effective in shortening the recovery time from COVID-19. It was developed with at least $70 million in taxpayer funds.[2] Yet, Gilead is charging exorbitant prices — the five-day treatment costs $2,340. Gilead is taking ruthless advantage of its government-granted monopoly.

Gilead is using a pandemic to squeeze patients by charging thousands of dollars for a pre-existing, years-old drug.[3] The patent and healthcare system that allows Gilead to behave this way is deeply broken.

Other countries, including Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Pakistan, aren’t seeing any shortages of remdesivir. They have abundant supplies of remdesivir. Why? They allow generic competition. It is outrageous and unacceptable that Americans, unlike many other countries, face shortages of the only drug approved in the US to treat COVID-19.

Our lives are more important than Gilead’s profits. Donald Trump has the legal authority to end the shortages of remdesivir. Will he? Or is Donald Trump all talk and no action when it comes to Big Pharma?

Join us in asking Donald Trump to stand up to Gilead’s despicable greed and put the safety of Americans before Big Pharma profits.

Tell Donald Trump: Quit rolling over for Big Pharma. Stand up for the American people.

Thanks,

Alex Lawson
Drug Prices Are Too High

[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/09/health/covid-remdesivir-us-vs-other-countries/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1ow_I-zKXIaz9FRoKxoeGHHCegmliEYToDa_QmuBSb-l9ymSihL_aWv6o

[2] https://www.citizen.org/article/the-real-story-of-remdesivir/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7202249/