Sam Farr: “I rise today to admonish this country, it is a shame that we are here talk, talk, talk, and not doing anything about…”

“I rise today to admonish this country, it is a shame that we are here talk, talk, talk, and not doing anything about prescription drugs. My daughter recounted to me a story last Saturday night when she was in a pharmacy at midnight on Saturday night, to pick up some pain medicine. She told me that the people waiting in line there were limited English speaking, about eight families. One of the gentlemen was pleading with the pharmacist to sell him at least two of the pills that were prescribed, he could not afford the whole package, because his infant daughter was sick and needed these prescription drugs. But the pharmacist would not sell the drugs to him because he could not buy the entire package, the entire dosage which the doctors recommend. He said, ``I cannot afford it. Give me two now, and I will come back in a couple of days and buy the rest of them.'' It went on and on, and the pharmacist would not sell it because the process would not allow them to do it, and the person could not afford the drugs. He was in tears, as any parent would be. Shame on America that we cannot take care of people; we cannot even disburse those drugs that have been prescribed because people cannot pay for them. Shame on the drug companies. Shame on the process. Shame on Congress for not correcting it.”