WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs founder David Mitchell will tell his story of living with incurable blood cancer and will debunk Big Pharma’s claim that patients won’t get innovative drugs without paying high prices at a 10:00 AM hearing today on rising drug prices.
Read his full testimony here.
Mitchell’s testimony will highlight stories of patients skipping doses and going into debt to afford rising prescription drug prices. And he’ll focus on the fact that right now, nearly 1 in 3 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed because of the cost. He’ll also discuss three legislative solutions to fix our broken system:
- Reforming our patent laws
- Ending the days of monopoly pricing power without taxpayer negotiations
- Forcing transparency from drug middlemen.
Key Points From Mitchell’s Testimony:
- “Why do drug companies charge so much? Because they can. Yes, drug companies should profit when they develop innovative drugs. But we are way out of balance, and it’s costing us all—in our family finances, health outcomes, and lives.”
- “We heard from one patient who has sold her furniture, maxed out credit cards, and is skipping doses to afford Revlimid.”
- “Pharma wants us to ask this question: ‘What are we willing to pay to save a life?’ And that’s easy. When it’s your child’s lungs on the line, when it’s your wife’s diabetes, your husband’s cancer, the answer is ‘anything.’ But that’s the wrong question. We should be asking: ‘What is the right amount of money that drug companies should make on these drugs?’”
Patients For Affordable Drugs is a national patient organization focused exclusively on policies to lower prescription drug prices. We amplify the voices of Americans struggling under crushing drug prices to make policymakers and elected officials see the heavy toll of high-priced drugs. Patients For Affordable Drugs does not accept contributions from any organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs.
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