In 1969 I was in Istanbul, living in my VW camper and on my way to India. Istanbul was so exotic, a city of around two and a half million people. And the Sultanahmet district was seedy with a distinct air of danger. Middle class Turks mostly avoided it and, despite having the 4 top tourist destinations in the city-- Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. But back in those days, Istanbul wasn't much of a tourist destination. There was only one first-rate hotel-- the Hilton-- and it was on the other side of town. But, in the late '60's into the '70s, Istanbul was a major stop on the Hippie Trail between Europe and India and Sultanahmet was filled with disheveled hippies-- like me. It was also the place the low life types of Turkish society came to rip off the hippies and sell them hash-- and where the police prowled to arrest the hippies and the crooks trying to take advantage of them. That was Sultanahmet in 1969, when I found myself in the Pudding Shop as what became the notorious film, Midnight Express was happening in real time all around me.Today there is a picture of Bill Clinton with the Pudding Shop's owner in the window. Not many people know what happened 50 years ago to make the place famous. I visited it last week, not the first time since my 1969 trip to Istanbul. I like the city and have been there many times since. Right after the election I needed a veg-out period to regain by equilibrium. One iff my favorite hotels in the world is in Sultanahmet now, a 4 Seasons, no less, one of two in the city. Istanbul has exploded and now has a population of around 16 million, depending who you ask. Sultanahmet is the place to be today. And the drugs... no hash anywhere as far as I can tell but American tourists are definitely there to buy drugs... pharmaceuticals. I spent a couple of thousand dollars buying medicine-- no prescriptions needed-- that would cost at least 5 times more in the U.S., even with crappy insurance from the Republican part of Medicare, the only bad part of Medicare, Part D, Bush's drug plan-- a vision of healthcare meant to help big drug firms and screw patients.In 2006, Pelosi tried to fix it but there were too many Blue Dogs and New Dems in her caucus and she had to cater to their conservative instincts and the fix-- like everything well-intentioned Democrats try to do when the Republican wing of their party has sway (as it does right now)-- only was a baby step, not the big bold step that was needed so badly.The costs of medicines-- a pure rip off of the American people-- hasn't been seriously addressed. Politicians talk about it but nothing seems to get done. Well, two progressives who don't try to cater to the corrupt, Wall Street-owned shit-eating New Dems and Blue Dogs, have a new bill they're introducing, the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act. Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna will introduce it the day the Democrats take over Congress in January.If the new Dems and Blue Dogs don't screw it up-- they will certainly try-- the bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make sure that Americans don’t pay more for prescription drugs than the median price in five major countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. If pharmaceutical manufacturers refuse to lower drug prices below that level, the federal government would approve cheaper generic versions of those drugs, regardless of any patents or market exclusivities in place. Does that thrill you? It thrills me.When this legislation becomes law, the median price of brand name prescription drugs could go down by more than 40%, and savings for certain brand name prescription drugs could be even greater.Ro Khanna: "There is absolutely no reason for the big pharmaceutical companies to make Americans pay higher prescription drug prices than they charge our friends in Canada, Germany, and the UK. Today we’re sending big pharma a message: market exclusivity is a privilege, and when you abuse that by price gouging the sick and aging, then you lose that privilege. This bill will bring down drug prices by taking on monopolies and boosting prescription drug competition."Bernie: "No other country allows pharmaceutical companies to charge any price they want for any reason they want. Somebody in America today can walk into a pharmacy and find out that the medicine they have been using for years can double, triple or quadruple literally overnight. That needs to change. The greed of the prescription drug industry is literally killing Americans and it has got to stop."In their press released they noted that "Trump said repeatedly during his campaign that he would take action against drug companies and bring down prices. But in the first seven months of 2018 alone, there were 96 drug price hikes for every price cut. And on Friday, Pfizer announced it is planning to raise prices on 41 more drugs in January. Earlier this year, Trump proposed a pilot program to gradually lower the prices of certain drugs covered by Medicare Part B to international price levels. But his proposal does not help the more than 150 million Americans who get private health insurance from their employer, many of whom struggle with high deductibles and copayments, or the more than 30 million Americans who are uninsured and must pay the full cash price of their prescription drugs at the pharmacy. Sanders and Khanna’s legislation would address the needs of both of those populations."This is the one-page summary of the bill that Ro and Bernie released today:
The Prescription Drug Price Relief ActThe United States pays, by far, the highest drug prices in the world for one reason: we let drug companies get away with murder. Last year, the pharmaceutical industry made more than twice as much money in the U.S.-- $453 billion-- than in all European countries combined. The top five drug companies alone made over $50 billion, while the top five American pharmaceutical CEOs made more than $113 million in compensation.When Congress gets back into session, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) will be introducing the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act.This legislation would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make sure that Americans don’t pay more for prescription drugs than the median price of the following five countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan.If pharmaceutical manufacturers refuse to lower drug prices down to the median price of these five countries, the federal government would be required to approve cheaper generic versions of those drugs, regardless of any patents or market exclusivities that are in place.If this legislation were to become law, the median price of brand name prescription drugs could go down by about 43 percent and savings for certain brand name prescription drugs could be even greater.For example, under this bill:• Premarin, for menopause, which currently costs about $165 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $94.• Januvia, for diabetes, which currently costs about $436 for 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $248. • Advair Diskus, for asthma and COPD, which currently costs about $390 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $222. • Xarelto, for blood clots, which currently costs about $432 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $246. • Lantus, which is insulin for diabetes and currently costs about $387 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $220. • Humira, for arthritis, which currently costs about $2,770 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $1,576. • Enbrel, for arthritis, which currently costs about $4,941 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $2,811. • Ventolin, for asthma, which currently costs about $60 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $34. • Xtandi, for cancer, which currently costs about $101 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $58. • Pristiq, for depression, which currently costs about $40 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $23.This is not a radical idea. According to the European Commission, using international drug prices as a benchmark in price negotiations is “the most commonly applied pricing policy in European countries.” The U.S., where Medicare is legally prohibited from negotiating drug prices for seniors, is an outlier.Although President Trump recently proposed gradually lowering the prices of certain drugs covered by Medicare Part B to international price levels, his proposal does not help the over 150 million Americans who get private health insurance from their employer, many of whom struggle with high deductibles and copayments, or the more than 30 million Americans who are uninsured and must pay the full cash price of their prescription drugs at the pharmacy.Today, a full 80 percent of Americans say that drug prices are unreasonable and just nine percent think that drug companies put patients over profits. The pharmaceutical industry will continue to rip off American patients as long as it can. The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act puts an end to this highway robbery, and will help save lives and reduce premiums by lowering drug prices.
