Elizabeth Warren Proposes Big Pharma 'Swear Jar' To Fund Medical Research

[Veilex]

WASHINGTON -- In an effort to fund scientific research in the era of divided government, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is seeking to force lawbreaking pharmaceutical companies to carry a heavier burden.

Warren will introduce the Medical Innovation Act on Thursday in remarks at a conference hosted by the pro-health care reform group Families USA. Her bill would create a fund that major pharmaceutical companies must pay into when they break the law and settle lawsuits brought against them by the federal government. That fund, in turn, would prop up research accounts for the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

“It’s a swear jar,” Warren will say, according to remarks provided by her office. “But it’s also a simple form of accountability. Instead of letting companies that break the law get off with a slap on the wrist, the Medical Innovation Act will make sure that they pay up in a way that really makes a difference -– a difference to the health of all Americans, and a difference to all of the company’s competitors who are playing by the rules.”

Warren, who has made a name for herself by advocating banking industry reforms and taking on student lenders, will likely be attacked for her latest offering by critics decrying a punitive assault on private enterprise. The proposal would create a financial incentive for the federal government to bring lawsuits against big pharmaceutical companies, and for pharmaceutical companies to fight the allegations rather than settle.

*snip* - More at the link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/elizabeth-warren-pharma_n_6520746.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013

[BrotherIvan]

1. I like it!

They should take the profit out of greed at the cost of people's lives. Signed, someone who almost lost my mother when she was prescribed a new (preventative) drug that put her in the ICU for 13 days and three emergency surgeries and was eventually pulled off the market. She had to remain on blood thinners for the rest of her life because the drug had caused blood clots which lodged in her lung.

From 2004 to 2008, Pfizer, one major pharmaceutical company, took in $245 billion. During that same time period, another company, Eli Lilly, made $36 billion from just one of its drugs (Zyprexa).

Between 2004 and 2010, major drug companies paid out $7 billion in fines, penalties and lawsuits — just a drop in the bucket when compared with soaring profits.

http://www.drugwatch.com/dangerous-drugs.php

[Mnemosyne]

2. We can dream... nt