WASHINGTON,
D.C. – During a bipartisan news conference today on Capitol Hill, U.S.
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) called the pharmaceutical industry
shameless for the latest batch of misleading print, radio, and television
advertisements.
“The
drug companies are proof that when you have unlimited resources and a willing
P.R. firm, anything is possible. Whenever Congress prepares to take
serious steps to give seniors access to affordable drugs, the pharmaceutical
industry spends millions to protect its profits and scare the public into
believing that change is not needed. The drug companies want to keep
the status quo of price discrimination and the ability to continue to charge
seniors more than pets, individuals more than HMOs, and Americans more
than Canadians,” Schakowsky said.
“This
time the drug companies have gone too far with their latest batch of misleading
ads. Seniors in the United States know that they’re being charged
more for the same drugs as their counterparts across the world. Seniors
don’t want to hear and see drug company propaganda. They want Congress
to act and pass a real Medicare prescription drug benefit,” Schakowsky
added.
The
advertisements claim that recent amendments included in the Agriculture
Appropriations bill passed by the House and Senate would jeopardize the
health of consumers. The amendments would permit pharmacies and wholesale
distributors to import and sell American-made medicine that originally
had been exported to foreign countries. In addition, the Food and
Drug Administration would have to certify that this process would not harm
the health of U.S. consumers.
“The
drug companies are shameless. They are willing to both exploit and
now frighten the seniors. Those imported drugs are the exact same
product manufactured by the same drug companies, but sold at much lower
prices abroad,” Schakowsky said. |