Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the legislation we are considering today, named the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, is not about children; it is about money. It is about the most influential industry on Capitol Hill co-opting an emotional issue to lock in another 5 years of unjustifiable, unearned revenues. It is about reauthorizing a program that pays drug companies literally tens of billions of dollars, straight out of the pockets of consumers who will pay higher prices, for tests that cost relatively only a few million dollars to conduct. Again, it is about reauthorizing a program that pays drug companies tens of billions of dollars in higher prices for consumers for tests that cost a few million dollars to conduct. No one disputes the need for pediatric drug testing. In a health care system as advanced as ours, it is unfathomable that our children are still being prescribed medicines on a hit-or-miss basis. But this bill does not ensure that medicines are first tested for use in children before they are sold for that purpose. It does not ensure that prescription drugs already on the market, already being used in children, are tested. If we pass this legislation, we are guaranteeing one thing and one thing only: we are guaranteeing consumers an additional 6 months of grossly inflated prices for some of the most widely used prescription drugs on the market.”