Bernie Sanders Slams Drug Companies on Prices

Bernie Sanders Slams Drug Companies on Prices

A bevy of tweets from Senator Bernie Sanders last weekend brought some much needed attention back to the conversation on the issues around drug prices. Big Pharma and increasing costs for pharmaceuticals were central issues on the lively debates between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, but relegated to the background in the recent presidential debates.

Bernie consistently points out the fact that other developed nations like Canada pay significantly lower prices for the Canadian version of certain drugs. These drugs, including EpiPen, Crestor, Premarin, Zetia, Advair, Januvia, and many more, are only a fraction of the cost in Canada, but produce the same effects. His outrage is justified and has been supported by a number of public cases that point out the malicious practices of drug companies. The most prolific in the last year has been Valent Pharmaceuticals who planned to raise the price of Daraprim by more than 5000%, from $13.50 to over $750 per pill. The drug is over 60 years old, well past the stage of recuperating research costs. This case is only one of the many examples that the Senator provides.