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Title: Elizabeth Warren vs. Big Pharma
Source:
National Journal
URL Source: http://www.nationaljournal.com/heal ... -warren-vs-big-pharma-20150122
Published: Jan 23, 2015
Author: Sam Baker
Post Date: 2015-01-23 13:16:51 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 3138
Comments: 12
The progressive icon says drug companies should be footing more of the bill for NIH
Elizabeth Warren took on the pharmaceutical industry Thursday, as she proposed requiring drugmakers to foot more of the bill for federally funded research.
Warren said the large drug companies have grown "wealthy beyond imagination" through blockbuster drugs that depended on government-funded research—and by committing fraud.
"Over the last 10 years, some of our wealthiest drug companies—those that capitalize on government research to generate billions of dollars in revenues through the sale of blockbuster drugs—have found another way to boost profits," Warren said, according to prepared text of her speech at an event sponsored by the health care advocacy group Families USA. "They've been caught defrauding Medicare and Medicaid, withholding critical safety information about their drugs, marketing their drugs for uses that aren't approved, and giving doctors kickbacks for writing prescriptions for their drugs."
Democrats have largely laid off the pharmaceutical industry since the legislative debate over the Affordable Care Act, when drugmakers agreed to support the bill as long as it didn't include certain policies. And Warren—whose home state is home to several large drug companies—praised the industry's scientific advances.
But, she said, drug companies paid roughly $13 billion in settlements with the federal government between 2007 and 2012. "That doesn't happen without serious wrongdoing."
"It seems that the biggest drug companies are increasingly playing by a different set of rules than everyone else," Warren said. "The government has kicked thousands of small and medium-sized physician practices out of the Medicare program for fraud, but not one of these major drug companies has ever been kicked out. The government convicts hundreds of people of health care fraud every year, but not one of these major drug company cases has even gone to trial."
Warren said she plans to introduce a bill next week that would require pharmaceutical companies to fund more of the basic research conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Many blockbuster drugs do stem, at least in part, from NIH research.
Under Warren's proposal, "the biggest and most successful drug companies" would have to contribute to the NIH's budget whenever they settle criminal accusations with the federal government. In addition to the fines that companies already pay, they would have to contribute 1 percent of their annual profits to the NIH for five years.
"It's like a swear jar: Whenever a huge drug company that is generating enormous profits as a result of federal research investments gets caught breaking the law—and wants off the hook—it has to put some money in the jar to help fund the next generation of medical research," Warren said.
If such a policy had been in place over the past five years, NIH would have seen a budget bump of about $6 billion—or 20 percent—per year, Warren said.
"We celebrate the accomplishments of our pharmaceutical industry, because these blockbuster drugs let people live longer, healthier lives. But we are also mindful that these companies did not do it alone," she said.
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#2. To: Palmdale (#1)
Wall Street / Big Pharma shills fear and hate Warren.
#3. To: A Pole (#2)
So does that mean she would get rid of OboloCare?
“Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.â€
#4. To: CZ82 (#3)
So does that mean she would get rid of OboloCare?
Red Herring.
She specializes in specific issue - better oversight over finance and pharma industry. She is not going to get rid of Islamic terrorism or fix neglected infrastructure. Because she cannot address every problem.
But Hush Bimbo and others like him will fight to the end in defense of crooks. So will their brainwashed listeners.
#5. To: A Pole (#4)
She specializes in specific issue - better oversight over finance and pharma industry.
Didn't Obamacare sell out to "big pharma" big time?
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
#6. To: Palmdale (#5)
Didn't Obamacare sell out to "big pharma" big time?
Warren versus Big Pharma and Wall Street. Which side you are on?
#7. To: A Pole (#6)
Warren versus Big Pharma and Wall Street.
Didn't Obamacare sell out to "big pharma" big time? Doesn't she defend Obamacare?
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
#8. To: A Pole (#4)
She specializes in specific issue - better oversight over finance and pharma industry. She is not going to get rid of Islamic terrorism or fix neglected infrastructure. Because she cannot address every problem.
A lame excuse in an attempt to protect a corrupt politician. When she's running for president she will suddenly know everything about everything.
#9. To: rlk (#8)
When she's running for president she will suddenly know everything about everything.
We will see. Or do you prefer someone like Hillary?
#10. To: A Pole (#9)
do you prefer someone like Hillary?
Is there a difference between the two, other than one pretending to be a real live Cherokee Indian when it's to her advantage?
#11. To: rlk (#10)
one pretending to be a real live Cherokee Indian
You guys are zombies repeating mindless buzzwords.
Warren talks about finances, you bleat on order.
#12. To: A Pole (#11)
Warren talks about finances
"Warren apparently does not feel the need to do any innovating herself: Her op-ed is a bland and entirely familiar list of med-device industry talking points presented in a forum aimed specifically at industry players. If not for the byline, the author photo, and a few pro forma lines about respecting federal regulators, it could easily have been authored by a device industry representative."
http://reason.com/blog/2012/04/18/elizabeth-warren-shows-us-why-obamacares
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
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