I thank Senator Whitehouse and Senator Merkley and everybody else for the very hard work they have done on this monumentally important issue. It is hard for me to think of an issue that is more important. A moment ago Senator Merkley used…

What would you change in the IDES process?

I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I want to thank you for holding these hearings, and I'm honored to be here to testify in support of your bill, S. 1138.

the current system forcing--in some cases, mandating that people die because they can't afford the treatment.

People should not be dying because they can't afford a rather small cost for drugs.

40 percent of Americans reported experiencing, quote, 'at least one of three cost-related concerns in their family: 16 percent say it is a serious problem to pay for prescription drugs.'

The problem is that the medicines are very costly.

I believe that by breaking the link between drug prices and the rewards for medical research and development, we can provide virtually universal access to medicines as soon as they are available on the market.

Knowledge should be disseminated and used as widely as possible.

the U.S. Government has been pushing for more stringent IP standards worldwide, including in developing countries.

Anyone want to add to the question of how it just so happens that the U.S. Government goes around the world telling developing countries that they have to pay, in some cases, prices for drugs that their people simply cannot afford?

In other words, the government is proactively preventing people from getting the treatment.

the same exact drug, which in a local pharmacy here in Washington, DC, will cost a patient $25,000, is being purchased by the U.S. Government for distribution in the developing world for $200

The therapeutic vaccine is a breakthrough that can make that kind of difference, and we don't have enough money to develop it.

Today, some 45,000 Americans die each year because they don't get to a doctor when they should, and many, many others are suffering.

Yeah, I write out the prescriptions, but 40 percent of the people don't bother to fill them.

We want a cure, and I'm here to tell you that the HIV community will not rest until we have one.

In other words, what you're saying is, at least, theoretically, what we would like is the drug companies to be investing in trying to find solutions to the most serious illnesses that we face.

Not a real doctor, but it'll do for this committee.

it's a huge problem.

I urge you to do everything that you can to prevent this reversal.

The bottom line is that the goal of our laws and policies for medicines must be to develop drugs as quickly as possible, drugs that are the most effective we can find for the diseases people are facing.

I certainly agree with that conclusion.

I will never forget sitting in a room with the president of South Africa... and he was being berated, berated, for standing up to the pharmaceutical industry.

In 2004, Representative Sanders expressed interest in drafting a bill to implement a version of the prize fund approach for the U.S. market.