During a Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) railed against the cost of prescription drugs and medical care.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we are voting on the nominations for Director of the NIH, Dr. Jay Bhattachary and the Commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Monty McCary.
00:09I will be voting against both of these nominations.
00:13The NIH, with a budget of $48 billion, is the largest funder of medical research in the world.
00:20This research has led to new treatments and prescription drugs that have significantly improved the lives of Americans and people throughout the world.
00:29Every American should be proud of those achievements.
00:32But these treatments don't do any good if people cannot afford them.
00:39And the truth is that is exactly what is happening in our country today.
00:44It is beyond comprehension that we continue to pay, in some cases, 10 times more for the same exact drugs of people in Canada or other countries around the world.
00:56People go to the doctor, they get a prescription, they can't afford it. That's absurd.
01:00Not only has the federal government not effectively regulated the price of prescription drugs, although we have made progress under the Biden administration in terms of negotiating prescription drug prices with Medicare,
01:13the taxpayers of this country over the years have provided hundreds of billions of dollars in research and development into new prescription drugs that have provided enormous benefits.
01:26Unfortunately, despite all of the money that we have spent on the development of prescription drugs, drug companies take the money, they say thank you very much, and they go out and they charge the American people sky-high prices.
01:41In 2023, this committee released a report that found that the average price of new treatments that NIH scientists helped invent over the past 20 years is $111,000.
01:54$111,000 per treatment in virtually all cases.
01:58American taxpayers are paying far more than people in other countries for the exact same medicine.
02:04In my view, we need an NIH director who is prepared to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and use every tool at his or her disposal to substantially lower the outrageous prices of prescription drugs.
02:16Unfortunately, I do not believe that President Trump's nominee to lead the NIH is that person, not just the NIH.
02:23The FDA was established by Congress to regulate prescription drugs and the food that we eat, among many other things.
02:29According to the FDA's website, its mission is to make medical products more effective, safer, and more affordable.
02:36More affordable.
02:38Again, all of the great breakthroughs don't mean anything unless people can afford them.
02:44And today in America, tens of millions of people cannot afford those treatments.
02:48And for that reason, Mr. Chairman, I will also oppose the FDA nominee.