The Republican Party is hearing even more jeers as reports are coming out that the CREATES Act, with support from a wide-range of Republicans and Democratic senators was left off the budget agreement … because of Republicans.
The measure would prevent branded drug companies from using delay tactics to prevent cheaper generic competitors from coming onto the market. [...]
“Who's opposing it? Big pharma and front groups that are bought and paid for by big pharma,” said Chip Davis, CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines, which represents generic drug companies. “There’s your answer.”
We all know big pharma opposes not being allowed to gouge people out of money. The CBO score for the CREATES Act was clearly not the issue.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the FAST Generics Act would generate $2.35 billion in savings over 10 years for the federal government,while the CREATES Act would generate $3.3 billion in federal savings over the same period. An analysis funded by the Association for Accessible Medicines, then known as the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, concluded, based on a 2014 survey of generic manufacturers to identify instances of restricted access, that there could potentially be $5.4 billion in annual savings, including $1.8 billion in savings for the federal government, if generic versions of REMS and non-REMS brand drugs available only through limited distribution were to immediately come to market.
The Intercept reports that Democrats are calling bullshit on the Republican Party.
It’s unclear what exactly happened with the bipartisan measure, which appeared primed for inclusion in the spending bill. But Matt House, communications director for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, blamed the opposing party. “Republicans wouldn’t put it in,” he wrote in an email. Other Senate staffers indicated that drug company executives have been pouring into Washington on private jets over the past week to push for blocking the CREATES Act from the budget agreement.
Don Stewart, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, dismissed the claims in an email. “I don’t know how to help with your anonymous rumors about rumors about something that could have happened according to another rumor,” he wrote.
You see that? Don Stewart won’t even give an answer to the question. Whether there’s a rumor or not the fact of the matter is that there is no CREATES Act in the budget agreement, and the Republican Party has most of the control. Democrats have answered the question Mr. Stewart. They say it was your craven political party’s fault.
The CREATES Act would also have stopped drug companies from refusing to allow generic competitors to participate in a shared safety protocol required for some medications. The FDA would instead have been able to approve alternative safety protocols for generics.
The Republican Party isn’t circling the drain, they have begun going down it and are trying to drag us all into their moral sewer.
