I heartily second Jules Rabin’s recent opinion piece on the “soaring cost of prescription drugs.” In fact, Time magazine recently ran a major story on this subject. Time pointed out that while a few greedmeister CEOs of small drugmakers grabbed the headlines by instituting several hundred-fold increases in their products, the big pharma companies have adopted a stealthier strategy designed for the public to not notice what they’re doing. They raise in single-digit percentages, but do so steadily several times a year. They also employ the largest group of lobbyists on Capitol Hill, working to cut off any restrictions on their pricing. But such restrictions are what’s needed. Ask the candidates you favor to pledge to put a collar on the drug industry’s heartless hijacking of the public’s need to stay healthy.
Jay Schleifer, Wellington
