Alabamians know how to stretch a dollar. We balance our checkbooks, pay our taxes, and work hard to take care of our families.
But when it comes to the cost of prescription drugs, Big Pharma keeps moving the goalposts and Alabamians keep paying the price.
Over the past decade, the cost of essential medications has exploded while pharmaceutical companies post record profits and pour millions into Washington lobbyists to make sure nothing changes. They raise prices year after year while Washington looks the other way.
Enough is enough – it’s time to put America first and rein in Big Pharma.
A recent national survey from the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance (PRA) confirms what families across Alabama already know: Americans across party lines are fed up.
- 85% of voters say prescription drug prices are rising.
- 81% agree Big Pharma raises prices every year, ripping off American families.
- 85% support “America First” pharmaceutical reforms so that U.S. patients pay no more than people in other countries for the same medications.
Think about that: Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs while consumers overseas pay a fraction of the cost for the exact same medicines.
That’s not fair. That’s not free-market competition. And it’s certainly not putting Americans first.
When President Trump signed his Most-Favored Nation Prescription Drug Pricing Executive Order, he sent a clear message: American patients deserve a fair deal.
That’s the kind of common-sense leadership we need more of leadership that puts American workers, families and seniors first.
But instead of putting patients ahead of profits, Big Pharma has spent billions on flashy ads that flood our airwaves and mislead consumers, all while writing off those same ads on their taxes.
They’ve poured millions into political campaigns to make sure Congress stays quiet. That’s not how America should work.
Congress must act — not for the lobbyists in D.C., but for the families in places like Dothan, Decatur, and Demopolis who are struggling to afford their prescriptions.
It’s time to rein in out-of-control drug prices, close loopholes that delay cheaper generics from hitting the market, and end the sweetheart tax deals that let pharmaceutical giants rake in billions while working Americans go without.
The American people are tired of being taken advantage of. They’re ready for reforms that protect patients, promote competition, and put our own citizens before multinational corporations.
We’ve seen what happens when Big Pharma calls the shots: record profits for them, higher costs for everyone else. It’s time to flip that equation.
Because in this country, we don’t bow to corporate interests.
We stand up for our people. That’s the American way. That’s the Alabama way.
Jim Zig Zeigler is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News. His beat includes the positive and colorful about Alabama – her people, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former State Auditor and Public Service Commissioner. You can reach him at [email protected].
