Posted on 05/16/2019 2:24:48 PM PDT by Kaslin
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attempted to make a case for universal health care on Thursday after a tense confrontation over the HIV prevention drug known as PrEP.
During a congressional hearing, Ocasio-Cortez pressed Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O'Day on why his company's drug -- Truvada for PrEP -- cost so much more in the United States than in Australia. She later answered her own question on Twitter, saying that the U.S. health care system was to blame.
"Spoiler: Because Australia has universal health care," she tweeted. During the hearing, O'Day responded to Ocasio-Cortez by noting how the drug was under patent in the United States but would be generically available in September of 2020
Ocasio-Cortez, who pointed out Gilead's $3 billion in revenue from the drug, then suggested that people died as a result of the company's pricing.
"There is no reason this should be $2,000 a month," she said of the drug, which is used to prevent HIV infections. "People are dying because of it and there's no forcible reason for it. We own the core intellectual property for it and, as a result, people are dying for no reason."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
He had to move to a different treatment due to side effects after a few months, and is doing well right now. He was diagnosed in 2012, relapsed in 2017. Thanks for asking. Gilead was a blessing.
And that costs a lot less than $2000/mo
Nice one.
She apparently just learned the term “intellectual property.”
You can say what you say about AIDs, but what about the poor people with bee sting allergy, and the sudden increase in the anti-allergy injections. Then the infamous man who raised the price astronomically on a drug for a rare disease. Well, at least he got his punishment. Most drug company CEOs are wildly overpaid as are many other CEOs, often $20million or more. The profit margin for drug companies is often two or three times that of most other businesses, because they can get away with high charges for a life saving drug that people cannot live without.
Actually, I have a solution for the outrageous pay of high level management. Only allow businesses to deduct the first $1million of salary on their corporate income taxes. Stockholders would soon object to the reduction in their dividends. I remember in 2008 when Goldman Sachs stockholders discovered that their top 3 executives were all paid over $65million. That spring 43% voted for a Proposal for a Stockholder’s Advisory on Compensation. While it was not a win, it was a high enough vote to scare the CEO into a dainty salary reduction to $25million the next year. That was during the time that Goldman Sachs had their man working for Bush 2.
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