The Bloomberg editorial “Bargain for cheaper medications” (The Columbian, July 27), fails to state why the U.S. is the only developed country that doesn’t negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry.
The reason is the 2003 $400 billion Prescription Drug Bill that was passed by one vote in the House and then signed by President George W. Bush. The bill was the result of tens of millions of dollars spent by the pharmaceutical industry on political donations to Republicans and lobbying them to get the bill passed.
Key terms of the bill were the banning of Medicare from negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies and banning states from negotiating separately. Medicare was forced to pay whatever the pharmaceutical companies demanded for their drugs. This comment accurately described the bill: “(This bill) is a sweetheart deal to hand over huge amounts of money to the insurance and drug industries,” says Steffie Woolhandler, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
And a 2003 article in the New York Times described the disturbing process by which the bill came into being. Another example of the Republican Party serving the interests of corporate profits at the expense of American citizens.
