Political Quotes

“I join my colleagues on the floor to speak in opposition to the nomination of Alex Azar to head the Department of Health and Human Services. I believe Mr. Azar is, first and foremost, a product of the pharmaceutical industry, with a long, consistent track record of sharply increasing drug prices during his tenure at Lilly USA. Furthermore, his nomination makes clear that President Trump did not mean it when he said repeatedly during the campaign that pharmaceutical companies are ``getting away with murder'' and that he as President would dramatically reduce drug prices for seniors and all Americans. Mr. Azar's nomination is yet one more example of the Trump administration putting special interests above the public interest and public safety. Mr. Azar has long opposed any Federal intervention in prescription drug pricing, things like allowing Medicare to negotiate for drug prices. Of course, his former company has profited handsomely from the government's hands-off approach. When Mr. Azar became the president of Lilly USA, he also became the chair of its pricing committee and had a major say in price increases for all domestically sold Lilly drugs from 2012 to 2014. During that time, the list and net prices of Lilly's drugs that were sold in the United States increased by double-digit percentages each year. As cochair of the Senate's Diabetes Caucus, I am especially troubled that during Mr.…”