SUMMARY: The CEOs of Abbvie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, and Sanofi each contributed $15,600 to McConnell’s joint fundraising committee in the third quarter. Novo Nordisk Executive Vice President Doug Langa chipped in $10,000, Amgen CEO Robert Bradway gave $7,500, and Celgene CEO Mark Alles contributed $5,000. McConnell’s opposition to the bill comes after he had an exceptional quarter of fundraising from executives and PACs of pharmaceutical companies that could be forced to reduce the prices of their drugs under Medicare. Sigh..

There is probably no one politician loathed as much as Mitch McConnell. For a drug pricing bill to get through Congress and reach Trump’s desk, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has to buy in. McConnell said that he plans to block the bill from receiving a vote in the Senate, essentially spelling its doom.  Money buys politicians today.

McConnell’s opposition to the bill comes after he had an exceptional quarter of fundraising from executives and PACs of pharmaceutical companies that could be forced to reduce the prices of their drugs under Medicare if Pelosi’s bill becomes law. From July 1 to Sept. 30, McConnell’s joint fundraising committee and campaign committee raised $195,300 from executives and PACs of pharmaceutical companies, according to third-quarter Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Sludge.

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) has released to the public the nation’s first mandatory reporting of information related to increases to the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of prescription drugs by drug product as identified by the drug product’s the National Drug Code(NDC).

A summary review of the data found that the 3-year median percent increasein WAC for all 1020 reports submitted was 25.8%, which suggests an approximate 8% increase in WAC, compounded annually from 2017 through the first quarter 2019; the annual rate of inflation was 2% for the same period. 

In other words drug companies continue to raise prices, make record profits and donate money to one of the most hated politicians in Congress. Is it ant wonder why consumers don’t trust the drug industry? Merck, whose blockbuster Keytruda is expected to be the top selling drug, just announced layoffs because they want to make they balance sheet look better.

We can lie to ourselves and talk about how our drugs are helping patients but in the end it’s all about Wall Street and profits, not patients. Phrma needs to stop the lying and just admit that.