John Rice Carter: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. You know, I find myself in a situation here where I am both excited and I am sad. I…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. You know, I find myself in a situation here where I am both excited and I am sad. I am finally getting the opportunity to address something that was one of my major initiatives coming to Congress, and that is to do something about prescription drug pricing. As the ranking member noted, I am the one, for over 30 years, who was at the front counter telling patients how much their medication was going to be. I am the one who watched a mother in tears because she couldn't afford her child's medication. I am the one who watched a senior citizen try to decide between buying medication and buying groceries. Yet, never did it enter into my mind that this was a Republican or a Democrat thing. No. It never was, and it should not be now. This is about Americans and about Americans trying to get medications. Now, I will tell you, in my career, in my pharmacy career, I have witnessed nothing short of miracles in the way of new drugs. I can remember a time when, if you were diagnosed with hepatitis C, you were going to die. That is all there was to it. Now, think about it. We can actually cure it with a pill. How phenomenal is that? That is what research and development has done for us. Now, do pharmaceutical manufacturers need to do a better job with their pricing? Yes, they do. But I am here to tell you where the real problem lies.…”