The pharmaceutical industry is probably the biggest abuser in our country’s corrupt system. Obama tried to take on big Pharma and quickly caved in, while George Bush rolled over and basically gave them a handout.
The truth is, every U.S. knows big pharma is screwing us big time, on an almost instinctual level. We just never had a leader with the will to take them on.
President Trump may have lost this small battle, but he must win the war to drive down costs. And when he does, the Democrats will be stuck in a hard place because even they wouldn’t dare try to stop a win like that from reaching the American people.
Reuters reported on Monday that a federal judge dealt a blow to the Trump administration by striking down a new rule that would’ve forced pharmaceutical companies to include the wholesale prices of their drugs in television advertising.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington sided with drug-makers Merck & Co Inc, Eli Lilly and Co and Amgen Inc by halting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule from taking effect on Tuesday as planned.
In his ruling, Mehta set aside the entire rule as invalid, clamming that the HHS lacked authority from the U.S. Congress to compel drug manufacturers to disclose list prices.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced the rule on May 8, clamming that forcing drug-makers to disclose their prices in TV advertising could help drive down skyrocketing prescription drug costs if the companies were embarrassed by the prices or afraid they would scare away the customers.
The rule was originally suggested in May last year, as part of Trump’s “blueprint” to lower prescription drug costs for American consumers.
The judge said such disclosures could well be an effective tool in halting the rising cost of prescription drugs. “But no matter how vexing the problem of spiraling drug costs may be, HHS cannot do more than what Congress has authorized,” Mehta concluded.
Under the rule, the wholesale, or list, price would be included if it was $35 or more for a month’s supply or the usual course of therapy. HHS said the 10 most commonly advertised drugs had list prices of $488 to $16,938 per month or for a usual course of therapy.
