In January as new chairman of the Senate Health committee — officially Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, or HELP — Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted: “Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Progressives, Conservatives, the American people are quite united. You know what they’re saying? Take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.”
Claiming that the issue of high drug prices unites Americans isn’t a stretch — in fact, Sanders sounds in his criticism a lot like billionaire Mark Cuban, nobody’s idea of a socialist, who last year launched the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company to offer Americans lower prices on medications they need.
On Super Bowl weekend — another rare issue that seems to unite Americans, the watching of the big game — Sanders again took to Twitter to claim a mandate to combat Big Pharma on behalf of all Americans.
Sanders presents evidence for his battle in a table showing Americans paying more for numerous prescriptions than citizens of any other nation.
Here’s something you won’t hear about in the mainstream media: we are not that divided as a country. Whether you are progressive, conservative, or independent, you’re sick and tired of getting ripped off and paying the highest prices on the planet for prescription drugs. pic.twitter.com/tIK88bJGx5
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 8, 2023
In staking his claim to a mandate to tackle Big Pharma, Sanders also knocks mainstream media for its emphasis on the country’s divisions and its failure to demonstrate the unity of opinion surrounding drug price gouging. Silence is complicity, Sanders seems to say.
Sanders write: “Here’s something you won’t hear about in the mainstream media: we are not that divided as a country. Whether you are progressive, conservative, or independent, you’re sick and tired of getting ripped off and paying the highest prices on the planet for prescription drugs.”
Note: Mainstream media outlets like CNN have covered high drug prices, though it is usually from the business side instead of on the political beat. An example of the subject being covered at CNN is a headline from 2021 that reads: Prescription drugs are too expensive for many Americans. These companies are trying to change that.
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