NORTH CAROLINA — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now announced the launch of a campaign calling out Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-08) for opposing Medicare negotiation bill H.R. 3, and calling on him to support the legislation that would lower drug prices for Americans. The patient advocacy group also extended its existing grassroots campaign, in which patients will contact Reps. Deborah Ross (NC-02) and Kathy Manning (NC-06) to thank them for supporting the legislation.
“Rep. Hudson has a choice — he can continue to do the bidding of Big Pharma, or he can stand with patients by supporting Medicare negotiation and H.R. 3,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Instead, he is attempting to block legislation that could save the lives of 94,000 Americans each year. As Therese Ball, a multiple sclerosis patient, says in the ad, ‘It’s unforgivable.’ Rep. Hudson can still do the right thing by endorsing H.R. 3, which will deliver the innovation we need at prices we can afford.”
Rep. Hudson took more money from pharma than any other member of the House of Representatives during the 2020 election cycle. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, he has taken many opportunities to attackH.R. 3.
The campaign kicks off with a new video ad featuring multiple sclerosis patient and registered nurse Therese Ball from Ogden Dunes, Indiana. To manage her symptoms, Ball is prescribed Tysabri, which is priced at $7,463 each month.
“As a nurse, I had patients who struggled to pay for their prescription drugs. When I was diagnosed with MS, I became one, too. The medications I need to live are priced at over $7,000 a month,” Ball, a grandmother and retired nurse, says in the video ads. “Members of Congress are choosing Big Pharma over patients. It’s unforgivable.”
“Ninety percent of Americans want Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, but Rep. Kurt Schrader is working to block it,” the ad says. “Tell him to do the right thing and support the Lower Drug Costs Now Act.”
Watch the video ad here.
P4ADNow also launched similar ads calling out Reps. David Valadao (CA-21), Scott Peters (CA-52), and Kurt Schrader (OR-05), who have also refused to endorse H.R. 3.
P4ADNow launched its first campaign directed towards the 117th Congress on May 20. The national campaign had a seven-figure budget and called for support of H.R. 3 in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C. It expandedlast week, adding two more House districts. The campaign is, in part, a counterweight to Big Pharma’s attack ads loaded with lies about H.R. 3 and includes video ads, digital ads, and grassroots advocacy.
H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, was reintroducedin the House of Representatives in April. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. It will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.
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NORTH CAROLINA — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now kicks off a campaign today thanking Reps. Deborah Ross (NC-02) and Kathy Manning (NC-06) for supporting H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, a package of drug pricing reforms that includes allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices for North Carolinians. The campaign includes digital ads as well as grassroots advocacy, in which constituents will contact the representatives to thank them for fighting for patients. The campaign comes after Big Pharma launched attack ads loaded with lies, pressuring members not to support H.R. 3.
“Big Pharma is trying to get Reps. Ross and Manning to bow to its power with lies and fear-mongering. But they are standing strong to win reforms that will lower the outrageous prices of prescription drugs,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Thanks to Reps. Ross and Manning’s leadership, we can pass H.R. 3 to ensure we get affordable medicines we need now and innovation for the future.”
The campaign launches with an ad highlighting patient advocate Marcus LaCour, who lives with type 1 diabetes. The ad will run on digital platforms in North Carolina’s second district.
You can watch the ad in NC-02 here.
“I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 15 years old. Because insulin is so expensive, I’ve had to skip and ration my doses. My wife has had to skip meals so that we could afford the insulin that I needed to survive,” LaCour, a Cincinnati husband, father, minister, and drug affordability advocate says in the video ad. “No family should have to make that decision. For millions of Americans, it’s serious enough that we need help.”
Digital ads will run in NC-06 thanking Rep. Manning for supporting Medicare negotiation.
H.R. 3 was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. H.R. 3 is a comprehensive bill that will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.
The North Carolina campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s seven-figure national campaign launching in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C.
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