Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) confronted a Big Pharma CEO and took his company’s spending apart to show that it is not R&D that makes prescription drugs so expensive.
Video:
Big Pharma says they need to charge astronomical prices to pay for research and development. Yet, the amount they spend on manipulating the market to enrich shareholders completely eclipses what’s spent on R&D. Today, I confronted a CEO about the industry’s lies, with visuals â¤µï¸ pic.twitter.com/c3jSLr0yVd
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) May 18, 2021
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Rep. Porter broke down how much money Big Pharma companies spend to make money and said, “So, Mr. Gonzales, you’re spending all of this money to make money rather than spending money to invest in, develop drugs, and help patients with affordable life saving drugs. You lie to patients when you charge them twice as much for an unimproved drug, and then you lie to policymakers when you tell us that R&D justifies those price increases. The Big Pharma fairytale is one of groundbreaking R&D that justifies astronomical prices, but the pharma reality is that you spend most of your company’s money making money for yourself and your shareholders.”
Porter said that Big Pharma is lying to patients and policymakers and debunked their claim that they need the high prices for research and development.
The clip above is why it was so important for Rep. Porter to be promoted to the House Oversight Committee. Oversight is one of the most comprehensive and prestigious committees in the House. Porter now has the ability to take on Big Pharma execs and everyone else who is ripping off the American people.
Rep. Porter does her homework, comes prepared, and always holds billionaire and corporate feet to the fire.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
