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Highlands Today

Pharmaceutical companies have strong hold on politicians

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Highlands Today

Published: December 11, 2009

It's unbelievable that members of the U.S. Senate on both sides of the aisle are receiving so much resistance to make low cost prescription drugs from other countries available to Americans. The same worn-out arguments still are stopping this process and all it really comes down to are pharmaceutical manufacturers not wanting lose the billions in profits.

Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are both fighting to allow Americans access to much cheaper prescription drugs from places like Canada. Prescription drug costs there can cost half of cost in the United States.

Opponents to allowing access to these drugs use the excuse they are not approved by the FDA. Well, since many are the exact same drugs that are sold here, made by the same manufacturer, and there isn't an epidemic of people dying in Canada due to prescription drugs, that's a lame excuse.

The bottom line here is that pharmaceutical manufacturers make billions in profits every year. Countries like Canada, who have government-run health care system, can buy in such quantity that they negotiate a better price. But in America, we pay full price and then some. And we sit here like bumpkins allowing our politicians to tell us why we can't have them.

The real reason they don't support allowing Americans to get these low cost prescriptions is because these politicians are bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry. It's obvious, and these politicians shamelessly support these companies over the American people.

A perfect example is Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who said in an Associated Press story: "We can't certify that we can keep these products safe." Obviously Brownback is in the back pocket of drug makers. He knows that's not the case. Is Canada some Third World country where some guy mixes up Viagra in his garage and sells it at the drug store? Of course not.

One thing about this health care debate is that you can really see where the special interests are and how much they influence our elected officials. There's not concern about what's best for people. It's all about what's best for corporate interests.

It's difficult to imagine how our politicians can look at themselves in the mirror every morning knowing they are so beholden to these interests. Until we vote these people out of office, nothing is going to change.

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