WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued by Sheila McLean, a patient and the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, after the Senate Finance Committee’s vote on the confirmation of Xavier Becerra as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
“We call on Senate Majority Leader Schumer to move quickly to a vote to confirm Xavier Becerra for Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services in the full Senate. In his confirmation hearings, Xavier Becerra was firm in expressing the Biden administration’s commitment to take on Big Pharma, tackle our broken drug pricing system, and work with Congress on bipartisan reforms that will bring down prescription drug prices for all Americans. We know from our experience working with him in California that he can get the job done.”
BACKGROUND:
###
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued today by David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now:
“Over two days of hearings, Xavier Becerra has reaffirmed his commitment to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis to develop and implement solutions that will lower prescription drug prices. In hearings before the Senate HELP and Finance Committees, Becerra demonstrated his experience and understanding of America’s broken drug pricing system and his commitment to help President Biden deliver on his promise to provide relief to patients.
“On behalf of patients across the country, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now urges the Senate to quickly confirm Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services. We look forward to working with Secretary Becerra in the weeks and months ahead.”
BACKGROUND:
###
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Xavier Becerra reinforced his commitment to swiftly tackle the high price of prescription drugs during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate HELP committee today. Becerra demonstrated his extensive knowledge and experience taking on our broken drug pricing system, his understanding of tactics for bringing down prices for patients, and the need to spur drug innovation while ensuring taxpayers “get our money’s worth.”
“Today, Xavier Becerra committed to continuing his strong record of taking on Big Pharma and standing with patients against high drug prices,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Becerra’s work on drug pricing as attorney general of California and in the House of Representatives demonstrates he has the expertise and experience to achieve comprehensive change to restore balance so Americans get the innovation we need at prices we can afford.”
Watch Becerra here.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now has endorsed Secretary-designate Becerra and urges the Senate to vote for his confirmation quickly.
TRANSCRIPT:
“There is unanimity, bipartisan support for tackling the high cost of prescription medication. And I can assure you that that will be one of my priorities, is to deal with it swiftly. I tried to tackle it as the attorney general. I tried to work on that when I was in the House, and I look forward to working with you and members of this body in the future.”
“I think, Senator, we can all agree that the price that we’re paying for some of these prescription drugs is far higher than it should be. All you have to do is travel to another country, whether Canada or another country in the world, to find that we’re paying way more than people in some of these countries are paying. I took on a number of pharmaceutical companies, drug makers, by trying to go behind the curtain of how they reach their pricing. And we were able to prove that there is collusion, at times, going on. There’s a process called “pay-for-delay,” where companies will essentially collude with each other to not have a second company put a generic product on the market to compete with the brand-name product and therefore keeping the price of that brand-name pharmaceutical product high. We were able to succeed in going behind that curtain and trying to undercut that type of antitrust activity.”
###
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of his confirmation hearings in the Senate HELP and Finance Committees, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now enthusiastically endorses Xavier Becerra and urges the Senate to confirm him quickly as secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). As attorney general of California, Becerra took on America’s rigged drug pricing system, leading fights to crack down on drug corporation price gouging, regulate pharmacy benefit managers, and curb anti-competitive tactics by Big Pharma.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now worked closely with Becerra to pass the first-in-the-nation legislation, California AB 824, which ended abusive pay-for-delay deals that block cheaper generic drugs from coming to market and keep prices high.
“We have seen firsthand Xavier Becerra’s commitment to stand with patients for lower drug prices,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “As attorney general and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Becerra demonstrated his sophisticated understanding of our broken drug pricing system and the impact it has on patients — especially people of color. We look forward to working with Mr. Becerra to lower drug prices when he takes the reins as secretary of HHS.”
Karen Macedon, a longtime Sacramento resident and waitress who lives with type 2 diabetes and asthma, has firsthand experience with Becerra’s efforts to lower drug prices. She testified in Sacramento in 2019 in support of the Becerra-led AB 824.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now looks forward to working with Secretary-designate Becerra to enact lasting drug pricing reform.
MORE ON XAVIER BECERRA’S FIGHT TO LOWER DRUG PRICES:
###