Siding with big pharma

Local conservative groups have been all abuzz lately about pharmaceutical companies and the corrupt relationship they have with our elected officials.

So I am sure it will surprise Republicans in Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District that their Republican representative recently voted against a measure to lower the cost of prescription drugs in our country. But it’s true: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers sided with big pharma and against working-class Americans when she voted against H.R. 3, the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act.”

At a time when diabetics are rationing insulin, seniors are having to cut pills in half, and many Americans rely on GoFundMe accounts to pay for cancer medication, Cathy is abandoning her constituents for the same companies who, not coincidentally, pour billions of dollars annually into our political system in hopes of swaying representatives votes.

I find it hard to believe Republican voters can reconcile their current dissatisfaction with the quid pro quo between politicians and the medical industrial complex, yet keep voting for representatives like Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who refuse to take meaningful action to lower the cost of health care. What gives? At the very least, her supporters and voters should call her and demand she confront big pharma and lower the cost of medicine. Her number is 509-684-3481.

Georgia Davenport

Nine Mile Falls