Renee Ellmers: Lot of blame to go around for high NC drug prices, especially Pharma trade group
North Carolina has become ground zero for consumers' concerns over high prescription drug prices. One survey showed over 50% of North Carolinians are worried about drug prices, and as many as one-third have either not filled a prescription, cut pills in half, or skipped a dose to make drugs more affordable.
North Carolina’s Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, as well as North Carolina local and state politicians from both parties, have expressed concern, so the healthcare industry is now spending significant sums in lobbying North Carolina policymakers, seeking to both avoid scrutiny and define who is responsible for the sky-high costs of drugs in this state.
To be sure, there is a lot of blame to go around. But as a registered North Carolina nurse, I believe that lawmakers shouldn't lose sight of who the biggest culprit is. That, of course, is the major pharmaceutical commercials that make a concerted choice to inflate prices.
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Major drug distributors like Amerisource Bergen, McKesson Corp and Cardinal Health (the three companies that control 85% of the market) have been seemingly implicated in price-fixing schemes. So too have over 25 of the nation’s top drug companies, which North Carolina and 48 other states have sued for allegedly fixing prices and rigging bids.
These states’ efforts have already culminated in a $400 million settlement with three manufacturers for purported “illegal collaboration on the price or supply of drugs,” which ostensibly “[increased] costs both to federal health care programs and beneficiaries.”
However, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the trade association representing the major drug companies, doesn’t want North Carolinians to know this.
Like most people who can read a poll or study public opinion, PhRMA recognizes that it is not in good standing with the American people. A 2020 Gallup poll found most Americans trust Big Oil and Big government more than they do the pharmaceutical industry.
![Retiree Donna Weiner shows some of the daily prescription medications that she needs and pays over $6,000 a year through a Medicare prescription drug plan at her home, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Longwood, Fla. Weiner supports giving Medicare authority to negotiate drug prices. Negotiating Medicare drug prices is the linchpin of President Joe Biden's ambitious health care agenda. Not only would consumers see lower costs, but savings would be plowed into other priorities such as dental coverage for retirees and lower premiums for people with plans under the Obama-era health law. [AP PHOTO/PHELAN M. EBENHACK]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5yts8Vl5EMmFjhbhHQvzJw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzOQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-fayetteville-observer/3393e28558ca9749f7077aebc877f66d)
So now PhRMA is trying to obfuscate the truth to politicians and voters. That’s why most of the advertisements North Carolinians see online, on TV and on the radio casting blame on others for high drug prices are sponsored by none other than PhRMA itself.
It is no secret that PhRMA is a lobbying powerhouse, and ensuring corporate profits continue to flow is seemingly its primary objective. The group spent $28 million lobbying in Washington in 2022.
The individual companies within PhRMA also regularly employ their armies of lobbyists. Pfizer, for example, spent $13.6 million in 2022. OpenSecrets.com reported that the industry spent $375 million last year. That can buy a lot of politicians.
While there is plenty of blame to go around, these drug manufacturers appear determined to convince legislators that other entities are to blame for the problems they’ve caused. Unfortunately, many politicians – whether by accident or design – are falling for the rouse and even supporting or at least entertaining some of their legislative pet projects. This is counterproductive and dangerous.
As a nurse in the state, I have seen too many vulnerable North Carolinians enter our healthcare facility because they stopped taking their medications. They can’t afford them, and the unreachable expenses of many prescription drugs has cost too many people near and dear to me their health. Moving PhRMA’s legislative agenda forward will only make matters worse.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Before moving forward with any healthcare legislative proposals that PhRMA is pushing, North Carolina’s congressional representatives should ask healthcare providers in North Carolina for their thoughts. They don’t have a dog in these high-priced lobbying fights, and they know what’s best for this state’s patients.
I sure hope that our elected officials take this common sense preventative measure before they decide to pass any bills that pertain to the healthcare industry. The fate of some of my patients may very well depend on it.
Ellmers, a registered nurse, is a former member of Congress from North Carolina.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Renee Ellmers: Pharma trade group behind high NC drug prices
