Wednesday, April 25, 2018

McCaskill: Our government cannot take a hands-off approach to the pharmaceutical industry

(From Sen. Claire McCaskill)

I've met far too many Missourians who have lost a loved one to the opioid epidemic. I've sat with families and heard heartbreaking stories. I've talked to parents who have come home and been powerless to help an overdosing child.

But instead of making the life-saving drugs that reverse these overdoses more affordable and more accessible to Missouri families, pharmaceutical companies have raised prices.

One brand of the anti-overdose drug naloxone increased in price by six hundred percent in only 3 years.

600%.

I just can't believe that. So last week I demanded that senior government officials join me in aggressively fighting these high costs, but they couldn't even give me a reason for these unconscionable price increases. That's unacceptable.

There are too many lives at stake for these officials to do nothing. The last thing a parent in this situation should have to worry about is the cost of a drug that could save their child's life.

I'm not stopping here. If we're truly going to tackle the opioid epidemic, our government can't take a hands-off approach to the pharmaceutical industry. Missourians' lives are at stake. And I'm here to fight for them.

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