Political Quotes

“Mr. President, let me say to Chairman Alexander, I certainly look forward to working with him over the next several months to come up with a package that makes certain we do everything we can to cure childhood illnesses, which otherwise would be fatal, but that we also understand it is not just 7,800 beautiful kids in that hospital, but there are millions of people in this country who are suffering today because they cannot even afford the medicine that is on the market at the same time as five drug companies--it is not a question of disliking drug companies. It is a question of fact. Five drug companies made $50 billion in profits last year, charging our people, by far, the highest prices in the world for medicine. One out of five Americans who are sick cannot afford the medicine they need. An example, one small example, this is the chart of drug prices in the United States versus Canada, with EpiPen, which is on the front pages today. In the United States, it is $620; in Canada, it is $290. Why are we paying twice as much for the same product as a country 50 miles away from where I live? Crestor, for high cholesterol, is $730 in the United States, $160 in Canada. Premarin, for estrogen therapy, is $421 in the United States, $84 in Canada. Look, I have been around the country in the last year, and there are few Americans--very few--who do not understand that the greed of the pharmaceutical industry is causing terrible health problems for millions of people.…”