Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said Trump didn’t go far enough.
“Today’s announcement is a far cry from what Trump called for when he said the drug companies were ‘getting away with murder,’” Wyden said in a statement. “They’re breathing a sigh of relief in pharmaceutical board rooms across the country.”
Absolutely true.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-11/drug-industry-dodges-worst-fears-in-trump-s-plan-on-u-s-pricesAnd here's a ginned-up accusation:
Another part of Trump’s plan is to pressure U.S. trading partners to loosen price restrictions and pay more for medicines. He believes U.S. prices are high in part because American consumers bear the burden of financing drugmakers’ research and development efforts. “It’s unfair, and it’s ridiculous, and it’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said. He said he’s directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “to make fixing this injustice a top priority with every trading partner.”
(Once again, coming in the back door, turning the real issue inside-out, and protecting the
status quo--- which is the REAL problem.)
Comments
Here is Trump theory on drug prices:
1. We demand foreign countries abandon their policies that hold down their citizens' drug prices, and expect no foreign voter revolt.
2. Drug companies make more $.
3. To be nice, they cut prices in USA.
This is designed by a 6th grader.
See also
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/12/opinion/whats-good-for-pharma-isnt-good-for-america-wonkish.html
Help companies make more money (raise foreign drug prices, cut domestic corporate income taxes), and they'll pass this largesse through to the little people (customers, employees).
the article is interesting about the interplay here among profit, price, consumer benefit