The senator believes fair pricing can be built into federal contracts with pharmaceutical companies.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont plans to work with the new director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) even after he voted against her confirmation last month. Senator Sanders, who serves as the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, voted against the confirmation of Monica Bertagnolli as NIH director because he was not confident in her ability to stand up to large companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
The NIH spends billions of dollars every year engaging in the research necessary to develop effective drugs and is the largest single funder of biomedical research in the world. However, once the NIH shares its findings with pharmaceutical companies, the companies often take the credit and the profit for the drugs they make.
“Despite the huge amount of money that taxpayers spend developing these drugs, the drug companies get the product and they end up charging us the highest prices in the world for it,” Senator Sanders said. The senator believes that more can be done within the NIH to build fair pricing into the contracts with drug companies.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Senator Sanders as he seeks to integrate drug pricing into federal contracts between the NIH and pharmaceutical companies.
- For Director Bertagnolli to seek God’s wisdom as she heads the National Institutes of Health.
- For the president and health secretary as they look to reduce prescription prices.
Sources: NPR, Politico
