June 13, 2016—The publisher of the American Rx Bill of Rights
has submitted comments to the Democratic Platform Planning Committee urging
that it incorporate measures designed to lower prescription medicine costs into
the party platform. He said a similar submission will be made to the Republican
Platform Committee.
Daniel Hines, who also publishes the blogs Todays Seniors Network
and Rx for American Health, noted that, “Unaffordable medicines deprive American
patients of the health maintenance benefits made possible by access to a regimen
of safe, affordable medicines, because unaffordable medicines are, in and of themselves,
unavailable.”
He noted that Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD 7), who is
the chairman of the Platform Planning Committee, has been a long-standing
supporter of moves to lower prescription prices, and that Committee member Representative
Keith Ellison (D-MN 5) has introduced legislation on behalf of personal importation
of prescription medicines. He also notes
that the campaigns of both the Democrat Presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton,
and Senator Bernie Sanders have announced strategies to lower prescription drug
costs that are reflected in the Basic Tenants of the submission.
“All this is an indication of the support within the
Democratic Party for inclusion into the Party Platform,” Hines says.
“By ensuring that this level of support is included in the
Party Platform, the members of the committee will have a unique opportunity to illustrate
its awareness of the sense of urgency that exists for millions of Americans who
are unable to afford their prescription medicines.”
Hines notes that, “While higher-priced specialty medicines
have captured most of the headlines in the recent outrage about the pricing
abuses of Pharma, cost relief can be made possible immediately by legislation allowing
personal importation of vital maintenance brand-name medicines.”
He cites the cause-effect impact of denied access to readily
available lower-priced, safe, authentic vital maintenance medicines.
“Because these medicines are priced so high, they are a ‘driver’
of health care costs both immediately and in the future with ensuing harmful
effects upon the health of Americans who are denied those maintenance medicines
simply because they are unaffordable.
“This can lead to future health complications requiring
medications that cost thousands of dollars, claiming justification for their
costs because, admittedly, they offer extensions of life-expectancy that would
not be otherwise available, “ Hines explains. “ However, if the patients had
access to affordable maintenance medicines in the first place, possibly they would,
in many instances, have avoided later complications.”
The basic tenants of the submission are:
· All Americans
have a basic right to good health;
· An
unaffordable medicine is truly unavailable;
· Citizens
must have rights as stakeholders in debate and discussions of health policy
centered on pharmaceutical costs equal to that of Pharma;
· The
rights of Americans to due process in the protection of their rights and
ability to make valid medical decisions must be protected;
· It is in the public interest to recognize the
significant contributors to the development of research and development costs
of new medicines through their tax dollars in support of grants to the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), and, as such, should be protected from unfair or
questionable patent protection granted to Pharma that fails to recognize the
rights of American citizens;
· The FDA
should enter into reciprocal agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MOU)
in recognition of its many agreements already in place with authorities in
other countries to help ensure a safe and easily validated source of personally
imported medications for Americans.
Hines says that the Platform Plank should call for Congressional
and Presidential support and enactment of a comprehensive consensus-building strategy
to lower prescription prices, including
but not limited to price negotiations; Pharma patent protection revisions to reflect
American taxpayer support of NIH-funded research and development; an end-to-pay-to-delay tactics of Pharma to
protect their markets while denying Americans access to lower-cost generics; approval of the rights of Americans to
personally import safe, affordable brand-name medicines from licensed
registered pharmacies in Tier One Countries whose standards of safety and
efficacy meet or exceed those of the U.S.; compelling the Secretary of Health
and Human Services to facilitate agreements for implementation and, with
reciprocal Memorandums of Understanding, to provide the framework for such
personal importation.
“The inclusion of this plank in the Democratic Party would put
the Party on the record that it truly does realize the urgent need for
immediacy in dealing with the harmful health and economic impacts upon millions
of Americans deprived of their medicines,“ Hines concludes. “And that will make it accountable for its
actions in the future to ensure such availability of and access to affordable vital
medicines.”
Article One—A Basic Right to Good Health
You can make a difference in the battle for Control of the U.S. Senate...Read our reviews of the 34 contested races and then ask your Senator where he or she stands on the need for the American Rx Bill of Rights call for comprehensive bi-partisan legislation to lower prescription medicine prices...(read more)
