Big Pharma keeps cashing in
Big Pharma is one industry that took the opportunity to give themselves a raise amidst the pandemic, during a time when many families couldn’t even afford to put a roof over their head.
Let’s face it. Most of us were treading water financially in 2020, especially small business owners. We were battered by the waves, getting pulled back and forth and praying that when there was a break in the chaos, we would have a shore to go back to.
As of September 2020, more than 150,000 small businesses, according to CNBCm had to shutter their doors due to changing economic conditions. People lost their homes and their once thriving businesses overnight. I don’t mean to focus only on doom and gloom, because there were some silver linings for other business segments in 2020 and 2021; primarily big business.
During 2020, many of these businesses saw a huge uptick in profitability. Part of this was unintended, like Amazon and Alibaba having breakout years due to a change in the buying behavior of the consumer. Part of this was very deliberate and some might say diabolical. Big Pharma is one industry that took the opportunity to give themselves a raise amidst the pandemic, during a time when many families couldn’t even afford to put a roof over their head.
The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is highly unregulated when it comes to pricing. For years, proponents of regulation have said that we need to mandate that pharmaceutical companies put a request in to the government to raise prices of life-saving medications. Drug manufacturers have already raised the price of at least 582 brand-name drugs in 2021, with an average increase of 4%. Pfizer, a leading manufacturer, raised the prices on 130 drugs, including Xeljanz, one of their most popular Rheumatoid Arthritis drugs that previously cost $5,200 for a 60 pill supply. GlaxoSmithKline also raised prices on more than 30 of their drugs, including Zejula, a cancer treatment.
During 2019 and 2020, pharmaceutical companies raised the prices on over 400 drugs each year. This is legal for them to do, as manufacturers alone control the prices. Meanwhile, American families are being forced to make difficult decisions between paying for their mortgage or paying for life saving medications for their children. Do you wonder why the government allows this? Because pharma is showering Congress with cash. Pfizer’s PAC has been the most active, sending 548 checks to various lawmakers and other industry groups — more checks than the actual number of elected officials in the House and Senate.
Ben Wakana, the executive director of the advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, said “The breadth of these contributions shows drug corporations have no intention of doing anything to lower their prices — they are lavishing millions in campaign contributions to protect their power to dictate high prices for prescription drugs.” Does this mean we are all (for lack of a better term) “screwed?” The short answer is no. Fortunately there are several trade associations in health insurance, like the National Association of Health Underwriters, that are hard at work trying to fight for lower prices. In addition, there are options like choosing generics or buying your prescriptions from countries such as Canada that have regulation of prices.
If this story makes you feel unsettled, I suggest taking it up with your congressman, who almost certainly has received a check from Pfizer.