The drug fix is in

The merger of drug companies Pfizer and Allergan using a technique that converts Pfizer from an American company into an Irish one (an inversion) makes it crystal clear that it’s time to revisit the Medicare drug program enacted by a Republican Congress and the Bush administration. In that plan, the drug companies were given immunity from price negotiations that would significantly reduce the cost of the program to the American taxpayer.

We know that the Medicare drug program was a windfall for the drug companies. Common sense tells us that if a company is exempt from negotiating with its biggest customer, that customer is going to end up on the short end of the deal. If that weren’t enough, the fact that Billy Tauzin, the Louisiana representative who was responsible for shepherding the bill through Congress, was rewarded with a $2 million-a-year job by the drug industry ought to remove any doubt.

If Congress is serious about anything, a question that remains in doubt, it must take this opportunity to fix this problem.

Bob Wynhausen

Sandpoint