During the first presidential debate of Democratic candidates vying for that party’s presidential nomination, it didn’t take long for the pharma industry to take center stage.
During the first presidential debate of Democratic candidates vying for that party’s presidential nomination, it didn’t take long for the pharma industry to take center stage.
As pricing concerns for medications, the opioid epidemic and shortages of some life-saving treatments have dominated news cycles over the past several months, candidates fielded questions about their relationships with large pharma companies, drug prices and more healthcare-related issues. An ABC fact-checker shed some light on some of the responses provided by the numerous candidates.
Regarding drug prices, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was highly critical of the White House and the claims made by President Donald Trump regarding the lowering of drug prices. Klobuchar said the president went on television and bragged about how he would lower drug prices.
“Instead 2,500 drugs have gone up in double digits since he came into office. Instead, he gave $100 billion in giveaways to the pharma companies,” Klobuchar said.
In its fact check, ABC noted, and BioSpace has also reported on over the past several months, there has been an increase in some drug prices this year. According to an Associated Press analysis from February, “there were 2,712 price increases in the first half of this January, as compared with 3,327 increases during the same period last year,” ABC reported. However, the claim about $100 billion in giveaways to the pharma companies was incorrect as Trump hasn’t “directly given” the companies a $100 billion payout. ABC said that came from a partisan report that said health care groups, such as insurance and pharmaceutical companies, were expected to receive tax cuts up to $100 billion over the next 10 years.
ABC noted that Klobuchar called for the government to allow drugs approved in other countries to be brought into the United States as a means to increase competition and lower drug prices here.
ABC did mention that Klobuchar has received “at least $22,025 from individuals associated with the Minnesota-based medical and pharmaceutical company named Medtronic.”
Donations from the pharma industry are something that New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker claimed he would not take “because they’re part of this problem and this opioid addiction in our country.” However, the fact checkers noted that Booker, who hails from a state with a strong pharmaceutical ecosystem, has in fact accepted donations from the industry. In an examination of election filings, ABC said Booker’s campaign reported receiving “maximum donations from executives and leaders from pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Sanofi, Eagle Pharmaceuticals and Tri-State Pharmaceutical.”
During the Wednesday night debate, Beto O’Rourke of Texas ripped into Purdue Pharma of Connecticut, the company that has become the poster company of the opioid crisis. O’Rourke said Purdue, the maker of OxyContin, has “been able to act with complete impunity.”
“Despite what Purdue Pharma has done, their connection to the opioid crisis and the overdose deaths that we’re seeing throughout this country, they’ve been able to act with complete impunity and pay no consequences, not a single night in jail,” O’Rourke said, according to NBC.
This statement was rated as false. While the Sackler family of Purdue has not served prison time for the aggressive marketing tactics they oversaw that increased prescriptions and sales of OxyContin and helped to create, in part, the opioid crisis, the company has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and settlements. Earlier this year the company agreed to pay $270 million to settle claims in Oklahoma.
A second debate is scheduled for tonight and the pharmaceutical industry will likely be brought up again.
