PeoplesAction/Sarah Chaisson-Warner: An illness is not a profit opportunity

Dear Reader,

Drug corporations are at it again. They’re lobbying Congress for more monopoly power over medications to treat rare diseases. A year’s treatment can cost people more than a house.

In 1983, Congress passed a law aimed at spurring innovation for drugs that treat rare diseases, offering tax credits and monopolies as incentives. Right away, drug corporations turned the law into yet another way to price-gouge people who need lifesaving medications.

Now, the drug corporations are pushing a new bill―the Orphan Product Extensions Now (OPEN) Act―that would grant drug corporations six additional months of monopoly power.

Worse still, the bill has considerable support from both sides of the aisle. We’re glad that Democrats united against health care repeal. But that doesn’t mean they get a free pass to let drug corporations rake in outrageous profits.

Write your senators now. Tell them to reject the OPEN Act. Congress should change the rules. It’s time to curb drug corporations’ excess profits, end their monopolies on life-saving drugs, and make sure everyone gets the health care they need.

Sarah Chaisson-Warner
People's Action

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