Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring awareness today to a challenge that most Americans face every day with the high cost of their prescribed medications. Since 2010, the practicing cost of drugs in the United States has risen by close to 10 percent per year. As a physician, I see patients who forgo their medications because they simply cannot afford them. In 1996, the United States' use of direct-to-consumer advertising began a skyrocketing climb such that, today, 8 out of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. spend more on advertising than they do on research, personnel, or manufacturing. In fact, we are only one of two countries in the world that allow this practice, and this is a major reason why we have the highest cost of medications in the world. As a physician, I am often put in the unenviable position of explaining to a patient why the drug they see on TV is not the right drug for them and why. Patients ask their doctor about this medication, only for them to receive entirely different advice from their physician who diagnoses their illness. Yes, I am an ardent supporter of free speech, yet I would ask the American public: Is it worth it to you to pay up to 25 percent more for your medications just to see them advertised on television? So rather than investing billions of dollars in advertising, pharmaceutical companies could be decreasing the cost of medications or using that money for cure research. I ask for bipartisan support of this measure.…”