Miguel Granda: Big Pharma needs to put America first

Drug prices are out of control.

U.S. citizens pay higher prices than almost anywhere else in the world, even though our country is the global leader in drug innovation. They should realize those benefits and enjoy the most affordable access to life-changing medications and treatments. Yet, the exact opposite is true.

Unfortunately for everyday Americans, Big Pharma’s D.C. lobbying agenda does not put America first.

Consumers in other countries, however, benefit greatly. They enjoy lower-cost drugs than Americans. Foreign nations, often adversaries like China, also reap the economic benefits and strategic advantage of manufacturing lifesaving drugs within their borders. Adding insult to injury, many of these same drugs were invented by scientists at U.S. companies. Meanwhile, pharma’s stock prices continue to rise, as executives and their lobbying corps continue to cash in while American families struggle to afford access to needed medications.

President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and top Republicans on Capitol Hill have had enough of this charade. They all blame pharma’s corporate capture of federal agencies and Congress. RFK Jr., during his confirmation hearing, said that “agency staff had for too long been a ‘sock puppet’ for pharma” and promised to root out industry influence.

The gig does finally seem to be up.

POLITICO wrote this week: “Big Pharma isn’t sure how to handle Donald Trump’s Republican Party …. The industry’s plight marks a remarkable turn, given how close it once was with Republicans, and shows how Trump has upended alliances that were once a bedrock of the GOP.”

To put it more bluntly, POLITICO quoted one industry insider saying pharma executives are “pretty f-g scared.”

On the campaign trail, Trump told the American people he would clean out Washington. When he embraced RFK Jr. as a political ally, he also promised to “Make America Healthy Again.” Trump told voters he would let RFK Jr. “go wild” on health and food.

In the first 100 days, we have seen Trump deliver on those promises. The President has focused initial efforts on bringing supply chains and pharmaceutical manufacturing within U.S. borders. The recently sworn-in HHS Secretary is already attacking the revolving door between federal agencies and the industry. He intends to attack the agency’s reliance on user fees, which creates a dependency between the agency and manufacturers, as well as rules around pharmaceutical advertising.

Team Trump is on the right path to lower drug prices. They must drain the swamp, dry it out, and torch it. The incentives and disincentives designed by policymakers (or pharma lobbyists) are clearly out of whack and producing the exact wrong results. It’s time to make sure that drug pricing and manufacturing work for everyday Americans and put America first.

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Miguel Granda is a Founding Member of MAHA Miami, supporting Trump’s agenda to lower drug prices for Americans. He serves as the Secretary of the Board of the Miami Young Republicans and Chair of the National Americans of Faith Alliance. Granda is a graduate of St. Thomas University College of Law.