Donald Trump nominates man whose firm tripled the price of insulin to regulate drug companies.
CORPORATISM! One more reason to get him OUT!!!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-nominates-alex-azar-eli-lilley-who-tripled-price-of-insulin-to-regulate-drug-companies-a8062886.html?fbclid=IwAR0owPHQuilx9pZzOY7oI_C5LGtpp9sFoZsz1W64y35l8j8Ptk9d2Df1qOMDonald Trump’s pick for health secretary, Alex Azar, was previously an executive at a pharmaceutical company that repeatedly raised the prices of its drugs and tripled the cost of its top-selling insulin over the five years he served as a company president, it has emerged.
Mr Trump announced his choice on Monday, tweeting that Mr Azar would be a “star for better healthcare and lower drug prices”.
If Mr Azar becomes Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, he will oversee a $1tr (£760bn) department responsible for America’s major insurance programs, including Obamacare, public health, medical research and food and drug safety.
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He would succeed Tom Price, who resigned in September after allegedly using private and government planes at the expense of taxpayers.
The nomination has sparked criticism, however, over Mr Azar’s own track record at Eli Lilly, a pharmaceuticals giant that was one of several to repeatedly increased the price of insulin, a life-saving drug used to treat diabetes.
Mr Azar worked as HHS deputy secretary under President George W Bush from 2005 to 2007 before joining drugmaker Eli Lilly as a senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He served as a high-ranking executive at the company for ten years, becoming the president of Lilly USA in 2009, and was with the company as it tripled the price of its insulin product, Humalog.
Just over a year ago, the Washington Post reported that the price of Humalog had risen from $21 (£16) a vial to more than $250 (£190) over the past 20 years.
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Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders condemned the nomination on Twitter, writing: “Trump was clearly never serious about this promise to lower drug prices.
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Donald Trump announced Mr Azar as his pick for HHS secretary on Monday (Getty)
“We need an HHS secretary who will take on the drug industry’s greed, not someone who has financially benefited from it.”
Last year, Mr Sanders called for a federal probe into whether Eli Lilly, Sanofi SA, Merck & Co Inc and Novo Nordisk colluded to raise prices on insulin and other drugs used to treat diabetes.
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley was also critical of the nomination, tweeting: “If my priority were bringing down RX prices, I probably wouldn’t tap a pharmaceutical industry exec accused of colluding to drive up the cost of insulin.”