Latest News | Jun 30, 2021

Patients For Affordable Drugs Now Extends New Jersey Campaign Urging Members Of Congress To Support Medicare Negotiation Bill H.R. 3 To Lower Drug Prices

NEW JERSEY — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now announced it will extend its campaign thanking Reps. Andy Kim (NJ-03), Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), and Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) for supporting H.R. 3, and calling on Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) to support the bill that would lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate on behalf of New Jerseyans. The new phase of the campaign will start July 2 and will include digital video ads as well as grassroots advocacy, in which constituents will directly contact Reps. Kim, Malinowski, Sherrill, and Gottheimer to ask them to stand with patients against Big Pharma.

“H.R. 3 will ensure New Jerseyans have access to affordable medicine while protecting innovation for the future,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Patients need Rep. Gottheimer to stand up to Big Pharma and join Reps. Kim, Malinowski, and Sherrill in pushing for this important legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs for Americans.”

The expanded push will include new video ads highlighting Steven Hadfield, a patient from Charlotte, North Carolina, who lives with a rare blood cancer and is prescribed a medication priced at $132,000 a year. The ads thank Reps. Kim and Malinowski for supporting H.R. 3 and urge constituents to ask them to keep fighting for lower drug prices. 

“I’ve been fighting it for seven years,” Steven says in the ads playing on digital platforms. “$132,000. That’s the annual price for my cancer medication. I live in fear over my high drug prices. You wonder how everybody else survives.”

You can watch the video ad in NJ-03 here
You can watch the video ad in NJ-07 here

The following digital ad will run in NJ-11 to thank Rep. Sherrill for standing with patients and to remind her to push for passage of H.R. 3. 
 


The following digital ad will run in NJ-05 to urge Rep. Gottheimer to stand with patients and push for passage of H.R. 3. 
 

P4ADNow’s campaign to support H.R. 3 was first launched on May 20 on the heels of Big Pharma’s attack ads loaded with lies, pressuring members of Congress not to support H.R. 3.

H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, was reintroduced in 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.

The New Jersey campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s national campaign across 44 House districts.

###

GEORGIA — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now announced it will extend its campaign thanking Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-07) for supporting H.R. 3, a bill that would lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate on behalf of Georgians. The new phase of the campaign will start July 2 and will include digital video ads as well as grassroots advocacy, in which patients will contact Rep. Bourdeaux directly to thank her for standing with patients against Big Pharma. 

“H.R. 3 will ensure Georgians have access to affordable medicine while protecting innovation for the future,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “On behalf of patients, we thank Rep. Bourdeaux for standing up to Big Pharma and fighting to pass this important legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs.”

The expanded push will include a new video ad highlighting Steven Hadfield, a patient from Charlotte, North Carolina, who lives with a rare blood cancer and is prescribed a medication priced at $132,000 a year. The ad thanks Rep. Bourdeaux for supporting H.R. 3 and urges constituents to ask her to keep fighting for lower drug prices. 

“I’ve been fighting it for seven years,” Steven says in the ad playing on digital platforms. “$132,000. That’s the annual price for my cancer medication. I live in fear over my high drug prices. You wonder how everybody else survives.”

You can watch the ad here

P4ADNow’s campaign to support H.R. 3 was first launched on May 20 on the heels of Big Pharma’s attack ads loaded with lies, pressuring members of Congress not to support H.R. 3. 

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.

The Georgia campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s national campaign across 44 House districts.

###

KANSAS — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now announced it will extend its campaign thanking Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-03) for supporting H.R. 3, a bill that would lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate on behalf of Kansans. The new phase of the campaign will start July 2 and will include digital video ads as well as grassroots advocacy, in which patients will contact Rep. Davids directly to thank her for standing with patients against Big Pharma. 

“H.R. 3 will ensure Kansans have access to affordable medicine while protecting innovation for the future,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “On behalf of patients, we thank Rep. Davids for standing up to Big Pharma and fighting to pass this important legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs.”

The expanded push will include a new video ad highlighting Steven Hadfield, a patient from Charlotte, North Carolina, who lives with a rare blood cancer and is prescribed a medication priced at $132,000 a year. The ad thanks Rep. Davids for supporting H.R. 3 and urges constituents to ask her to keep fighting for lower drug prices. 

“I’ve been fighting it for seven years,” Steven says in the ad playing on digital platforms. “$132,000. That’s the annual price for my cancer medication. I live in fear over my high drug prices. You wonder how everybody else survives.”

You can watch the ad here

P4ADNow’s campaign to support H.R. 3 was first launched on May 20 on the heels of Big Pharma’s [http://]attack ads loaded with lies, pressuring members of Congress not to support H.R. 3. 

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.

The Kansas campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s national campaign across 44 House districts.

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued by David Mitchell, cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, in response to Chairs Maloney and Pallone’s announcement that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will investigate the approval and pricing of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm:

“Once again, Chairs Maloney and Pallone are taking the lead in fighting for patients by investigating the ‘steep price of Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm and the process that led to its approval despite questions about the drug’s clinical benefit.’

“As patients, we are eager for new treatments for Alzheimer’s and other diseases with unmet need, but a price of $56,000 is simply, as the Alzheimer’s Association puts it, ‘unacceptable.’ Aduhelm is the poster child demonstrating the need for H.R. 3 and Medicare negotiation to curb the unilateral power of drug corporations to set prices as high as they think they can get away with. We are very grateful to Chairs Maloney and Pallone for their continued leadership in support of innovation patients need at prices we can afford.”

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now released a new video that exposes how Big Pharma’s focus on lower out-of-pocket prescription drug costs will only shift the way Americans pay for pharma’s high prices. The 30-second animated video explains that the only way to meaningfully lower what patients pay for prescriptions is to lower the list prices set by drug corporations. H.R. 3, a bill in the House of Representatives, would allow Medicare to negotiate directly on behalf of patients for lower prices and reduce what patients pay out-of-pocket for their medicines.

Read the video transcript below and watch the full video here.  
Voiceover transcript: 

Big Pharma says it wants to lower the costs we pay out-of-pocket for drugs.

But if we take less money out of this pocket without lowering list prices…

Pharma will take more money out of that pocket by way of higher premiums and taxes.

The only way to lower the actual cost is to lower the list prices set by Big Pharma.

H.R. 3 will lower drug prices and lower out-of-pocket costs for Americans.

With H.R. 3, patients keep more money in their pockets. 

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued by David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, in response to the Principles For Drug Pricing Reform released today by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden:

“The principles released today lay a strong and thoughtful foundation for comprehensive reform of the U.S. drug pricing system, from lowering list prices set by drug corporations to reducing out-of-pocket costs for patients at the pharmacy counter. 

“We are very pleased to see the inclusion of Medicare negotiation as the first principle, extension of ‘drug pricing reforms that keep prices and patient costs in check’ beyond Medicare to all Americans, and provisions to spur and reward innovation. We applaud Chairman Wyden’s leadership and look forward to supporting and working with the committee to flesh out the details in legislation that will bring the principles to life and relief to millions of patients.”

###

AUGUSTA — The following statement was issued by Lucy Westerfield, deputy executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, following the Maine state house and senate votes to pass the Making Health Care Work for Maine package to lower drug prices:

“On behalf of Maine patients, we applaud the Maine state house and senate for passing Making Health Care Work for Maine, a strong bipartisan bill package that stands up to Big Pharma. If signed into law, two of the five bills — LD 675 and LD 1117 — will be the first-in-the-nation legislation of its kind to protect patients from pharmaceutical price gouging and unjustified price increases. Today’s passage is a significant milestone in the effort to provide meaningful relief to Mainers who struggle to afford their medications due to high prices.”

Background:

###

DENVER — The following statement was issued by Lucy Westerfield, deputy executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, following Governor Jared Polis’ signing of SB 21-175, a bill that establishes a prescription drug affordability board designed to deliver relief to Coloradans suffering from high drug prices:

“On behalf of Colorado patients, we thank Governor Polis for signing into law SB 21-175, a groundbreaking bill that will establish the country’s third prescription drug affordability board. The new prescription drug affordability board, which has overwhelming support from Coloradans, will be the first board of its kind to have the power to set upper payment limits for all insurers, providing meaningful relief to patients who struggle to afford their medications due to high prices. This is an important step for Colorado and one we hope other states will follow to protect patients and stand up to Big Pharma.”

Background:

###