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President Biden, Senator Sanders Confront Big Pharma’s Greed

Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk put on notice for price gouging

Washington, D.C. – President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders published an op-ed in USA Today tackling Big Pharma’s greed head on, and calling out Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk for putting profits before the health and wellbeing of the American people. In response, Public Citizen president Robert Weissman issued the following statement:

“For decades, presidential administrations on a bipartisan basis have been intimidated and deterred from challenging Big Pharma’s monopoly power.

“Today, however, President Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders call Big Pharma’s bullying bluff.

“The American people are desperate for tough action on drug pricing. Big Pharma pricing is completely out of control, draining personal and government budgets and denying people drug treatments they need. Already, almost one in three Americans report rationing their prescriptions because of cost concerns.

“Now comes Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, which threaten practically to double the overall U.S. expenditure on prescription drugs.

“The good news is, there’s a cure for Big Pharma’s price gouging: Government action. For one thing, the U.S. government can build on the gains of the Inflation Reduction Act, which enabled Medicare for the first time to negotiate the prices of a small number of drugs, which is what President Biden proposes to do. And there are many other actions the U.S. government can take to challenge Big Pharma’s monopoly power, including authorizing generic competition with expensive patented drugs.

“Big Pharma might want to take this moment to rethink its price-gouging business model. Because one way or another, its days are numbered.”