Pharmaceutical companies defend eye-boggling Q2 profits before annual closed-door meeting

WASHINGTON – This week, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association will hold its annual meeting — which is closed to press — on the heels of an eye-boggling second quarter when drug companies raked in unprecedented profits.

As Axios reports, last quarter…

• “Drug companies collected almost half of all health care profits despite generating less than 20% of industry revenue”;
• Pharmaceutical companies comprised 12 out of 16 of the most profitable companies; and
• The industry’s year-over-year earnings rose by a whopping 23%, securing big pharmas’ place as “the cash king” of the healthcare industry.

As big pharma continues to pull in profits, they defended the existing system last week, claiming it wasn’t necessary “to blow up the current system to make medicines more affordable.”

“Drug companies want to mislead the public into believing that the system is operating properly while they’re making money hand over fist,” said Lizzy Price, director of Restore Public Trust. “The problem is that it’s only functioning for these companies’ bottom lines, not for patients struggling to afford their medications. President Trump promised to lower drug prices, but at every turn, his administration has folded to big pharma’s interests, allowing drug companies to make huge profits while sick Americans foot the bill.

Price continued, “It’s time for the revolving door between big pharma and the administration to stop spinning, and for our government officials to put patients’ lives above corporate profits.”

More information on the ceaselessly-revolving door between Trump appointees and the pharmaceutical industry is available at BigPharmasBestFriends.org.

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