Federal Trade Commission: Stop the Big Pharma mega-merger

Petition to the Federal Trade Commission: "The FTC must investigate and block the attempt by Bristol-Myers Squibb to buy out Celgene. This would be the largest pharmaceutical merger ever, and as with past mergers, the result will be less innovation and much higher prescription drug costs for the public. This mega-merger will block the development and sale of affordable drugs and reduce competition precisely at the moment we need more of it. We urge you to stop this mega-merger." Add your name:

Now, two companies that produce life-saving cancer medicines are poised to become one in the biggest Big Pharma merger ever.1  Big Pharma tripled the price of insulin, made Epi-Pens completely unaffordable and jacked up the price of arthritis medications. The Bristol-Myers Squibb bid to buy Celgene would be a disaster for cancer patients and everyone else – and the Federal Trade Commission has the power to stop it. Tell the Federal Trade Commission: Stop the Big Pharma mega-merger. Click here to sign the petition. Bristol-Meyers Squibb shareholders recently approved a $74 billion deal to take over rival pharmaceutical company Celgene. If approved by regulators like the FTC, the merger would combine two of the world's biggest cancer drug businesses in the biggest Big Pharma deal in history.2 Every time Big Pharma gets bigger, the rest of us suffer. Fewer companies means less competition and higher prices. Big Pharma grows more profitable, but companies rarely invest in more innovation. One recent study found that taxpayer funding helped develop every single one of the 210 new FDA-approved medicines between 2010 and 2016. We are investing in new cures while Big Pharma spends more on advertising than research and development and ridiculously claims that companies need obscene profits from merged companies to fund new cures.3 Big Pharma monopolies do have one advantage: Spending more on lobbyists. Big Pharma companies use their clout and financial power to fund superPACs, lobby against reforms that would lower the price of pharmaceutical drugs and campaign against Medicare for All. This history-making disaster won't become a reality unless the FTC approves the merger. There is still time to convince commissioners to oppose it and to force the issue into the political conversation, but we cannot wait to raise our voices. Tell the Federal Trade Commission: Stop the Big Pharma mega-merger. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/bristol-myers-celgene-pharma-merger?t=9&akid=32600%2E3130208%2ET9vom6 - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Jared S. Hopkins, "Bristol-Myers Shareholders Approve $74 Billion Deal For Celgene," The Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2019. Ibid. Zach Carter, "Bernie Sanders And Ro Khanna Have A New Plan To Tackle Prescription Drug Rip-Offs," HuffPost, Nov. 19, 2018. More Information: Bristol-Myers Squibb Shareholders Approve Celgene Acquisition - Bristol-Myers Squibb press release

Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans

Rep. Ro Khanna's and Sen. Bernie Sanders' bill would force pharmaceutical companies to reduce their prices or lose their lucrative monopolies.

Petition to Congress: "Support the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, which would stop Big Pharma from ripping off the American people and lower drug prices by more than 40 percent." Add your name:

Big Pharma knows it can count on Donald Trump to make noise about drug prices but stay loyal to pharmaceutical companies. After all, Trump appointed Alex Azar, whose company tripled the price of insulin and faces an investigation, as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.1 But the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has real plans to crack down on Big Pharma. At the top of the list is a new bill from Rep. Ro Khanna and Sen. Bernie Sanders that would force pharmaceutical companies to reduce their prices or lose their lucrative monopolies.2 We need to show how many Americans support bold action against Big Pharma by getting behind this progressive proposal in a big way. Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans. Click here to sign the petition. America, unlike most other countries, allows Big Pharma to set its own prices, hold exclusive patents with no limit and corner the market on a particular drug and jack up the price.3 So far in 2018, for every one cut in pharmaceutical prices, there were 96 drug price hikes. Pfizer already announced it will jack up prices on 41 more drugs in 2019. Meanwhile, 1 in 5 Americans cannot afford the medicine they need.4 No more. That's why we are standing with our friends at Social Security Works to support the big, bold, progressive Khanna-Sanders plan. The Khanna and Sanders bill is simple. It says that Big Pharma must sell medicine for the same price or cheaper in the United States than it does in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Japan. If companies don't, the government will take away their monopoly – allowing other companies to produce cheaper, generic versions of the exact same drug.5 Almost every politician claims to want to do something about skyrocketing drug prices. Now we have a progressive plan that could lower prices by more than 40 percent across the board.6 Members of Congress must choose between Big Pharma's deep pockets and the American people's health. Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans. Click here to sign the petition. One recent study found that taxpayer funding helped develop every single one of the 210 new FDA-approved medicines between 2010 and 2016. We are investing in new cures while Big Pharma spends more on advertising than research and development and ridiculously claims that companies need obscene profits to fund new cures.7 Big Pharma cannot keep charging Americans more for the same drugs – and members of Congress must take a clear stand to stop it. Tell Congress: Stop letting Big Pharma rip off Americans. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/sanders_khanna_big_pharma?t=8&akid=30787%2E3130208%2EnM-cm7 - Josh Nelson,CREDO Action Add your name: References: Alex Lawson, "Sanders and Khanna have a plan to lower your drug prices," The Hill, Nov. 18, 2018. Sen. Bernie Sanders, "Sanders, Khanna to Introduce Legislation to Drastically Lower Prescription Drug Prices," Nov. 20, 2018. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Zach Carter, "Bernie Sanders And Ro Khanna Have A New Plan To Tackle Prescription Drug Rip-Offs," HuffPost, Nov. 19, 2018.

Tell Congress: Let Medicare negotiate drug prices

Petition to Congress: "Lower prescription drug prices and crack down on Big Pharma monopolies by supporting  the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act." Add your name:

Rep. Lloyd Doggett and more than 80 Democrats, on the other hand, have introduced a bill taking on Big Pharma and authorizing Medicare to negotiate discounts – and they need our help. Tell Congress to let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Click here to sign the petition. Big Pharma repeatedly threatens to take medicine off the market if the government starts negotiating discounts. These callous threats are enough to make many Americans nervous. But the new Democratic bill has real teeth – if Big Pharma refuses to negotiate in good faith, the government could issue a license to a competitor to produce a generic version of the drug. Americans pay the highest prices for prescription drugs of anywhere in the world. In fact, we not only pay high prices for desperately needed medication, but our tax dollars also pay for the research that makes Big Pharma so rich. No wonder permitting negotiation is so popular. Tell Congress to let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/doggett_part_d?t=7&akid=29545%2E3130208%2E9etm9T - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Nancy Altman, "Democrats have a Medicare negotiation plan that terrifies Big Pharma," The Hill, July 30, 2018.

Stop Big Pharma from buying our health care system

The petition to Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan reads: "Buying Trump's favor to keep drug prices sky high is unacceptable. Stop blocking Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices or resign from your position as Novartis CEO." Add your name:

In 2016, Donald Trump proposed letting Medicare negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs and said that anyone who opposed the idea was in Big Pharma's pocket. In 2017, pharmaceutical giant Novartis paid Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen $1.2 million. Now, Trump has reportedly decided not to let Medicare negotiate lower prices – a huge gift to the pharmaceutical industry.1 Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan is facing tough questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and calls to resign from progressive groups over his secretive and inappropriate payments to Trump's attorney.2 Sign our petition now to put a massive spotlight on Trump's phony populism and hold Big Pharma executives accountable for taking advantage of American consumers. Tell Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan: Resign from your position and stop blocking Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices. Click here to sign the petition. In a letter to Narasimhan sent by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal on Monday, the senators pointed out that "the unusual series of payments by Novartis to the President's personal attorney raise obvious questions about corruption and whether Novartis and the Trump administration were engaged in a pay-for-play operation." This isn’t how our country should work. Drug prices are already too high – and Medicare negotiation is one of the best tools we have to lower them. Narasimhan and other key Novartis employees are feeling the pressure. On Monday, Narasimhan held a conference call with 5,000 of his top managers focused on regaining the public's trust.3 Then on Wednesday, the company's top lawyer resigned as a result of his role in the payments to Trump's attorney.4 Now it's up to us to make sure Narasimhan and all other Big Pharma CEOs know that price-gouging American consumers on life-saving prescription drugs – whether through outright corruption or otherwise – is completely unacceptable. Tell Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan: Resign from your position and stop blocking Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/novartis-trump?t=7&akid=28581%2E3130208%2EMM19sk - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: Adam Feuerstein and Damian Garde, "Trump promised to bring pharma to justice. His speech sent drug stocks soaring," Stat, May 11, 2018. James Paton, "Novartis CEO Dials Up 5,000 Managers After Cohen Furor," Bloomberg, May 15, 2018. Kate Riga, "More Senate Dems Call For Cohen Payment Info From AT&T, Novartis," TPM, May 15, 2018. Ivana Kottasová, "Novartis top lawyer quits over Cohen payments," CNN, May 16, 2018.