Bernie Sanders Compares Big Pharma to Big Tobacco

The senator wants legislation and a hearing to address pharmaceutical companies’ role in the opioid epidemic.

02/05/2018 06:19 pm ET
By Jason Cherkis


Excerpt:

WASHINGTON ― Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Monday for the Senate to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for any role they’ve played in fueling the opioid epidemic that has spread despair in his state and across the U.S.

In a letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the committee on health, education, labor and pensions, Sanders encouraged him to hold hearings on the matter just as the Senate had once compelled Big Tobacco executives to testify about the deadly hazards of smoking.

“That committee had the courage to demand that the leading executives of the tobacco industry tell the American people what they knew and when they knew that tobacco was addictive … and had killed millions of people,” Sanders wrote. “Though all denied under oath believing tobacco was addictive, we now know they were lying. But the hearing eventually led to real change,” with the Food and Drug Administration regulating tobacco and the rate of smoking in the U.S. at a record low.

Sanders pointed out that the hearing helped states reach massive settlements with the tobacco industry. Several local jurisdictions have already filed lawsuits against painkiller manufacturers. Some have already received settlements. The opioid crisis, Sanders, wrote, “did not happen in a vacuum.” He praised investigative journalists for exposing Big Pharma’s lies about opioid painkillers not being addictive and how small-town pharmacies were flooded with opioids.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-big-pharma-opioids_us_5a78d78be4b018ad894efbc0