Bernie Sanders backs effort to cut drug costs but urges stronger action

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Bernie Sanders backs effort to cut drug costs but urges stronger action Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has endorsed President Donald Trump’s executive order directing drugmakers to lower prescription drug costs in the United States but has called for stronger action.  #Trump #DrugPrices #Pharma  Start your day with "Morning in America," NewsNation's live three-hour national morning newscast hosted by Markie Martin. Weekdays starting at 6a/5C. #MorningInAmerica

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00:00Well, after decades of skyrocketing prescription prices, the White House says it is now taking

00:04some serious action. President Donald Trump signing an executive order directing the government

00:09to negotiate with drug makers, rather. And if talks fail, cap prices to match what patients

00:16pay in other wealthy countries. It is called the most favored nation policy. News Nation's

00:21Elizabeth Pran is following this story for us. And Elizabeth, some critics say this is a form

00:25of price control. Well, Anna, there is a lot of pushback, right? I mean, the story could impact

00:31millions of Americans. So basically big pharma and then pharmacy benefit managers. So the middlemen,

00:36the people who negotiate between the pharmaceutical industry and insurance companies,

00:41they are pushing back. The ink's not even dry yet. Look at this statement from the pharmaceutical

00:45research and manufacturers of America. They write in part, it's a bad deal for American

00:50patients and workers. It'll make the U.S. more reliant on China for innovative medicines.

00:56We're also hearing that from biotech advocates who say the shift to the most favored nation pricing,

01:01you mentioned that, which basically says that our numbers would match those of other countries,

01:07would be devastating to medical innovation firms. The president has at least one unlikely ally in

01:13Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has called on the president to support legislation that he also

01:19wants to introduce to keep American prices in line with the international community.

01:25So Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is leading those negotiations now to bring

01:30those prices down. So you might be wondering why? How egregious is the price gap? Well, let's take a

01:36couple medications, for example. We'll go V. This is a very popular GLP-1. It's about $1,300 here in the United

01:43States. And in countries in the U.K., it's $92. Ozempic is right around $1,000 here in the U.S.

01:50Look at France and Germany, $71, $59, respectively. So the White House basically says that this could

01:56slash prices between 30 and 80 percent. We know the Biden administration did negotiate some

02:03negotiate Medicare prices during his administration, but those aren't going to take place for another

02:09year. Americans are simply wanting lower prices right now. Yeah, especially when folks take

02:14multiple medications every day. They have multiple family members. Everything really adds up. This

02:18could make a huge difference. This plan is likely to face some legal challenges, though, too. Can you

02:22outline those? There's going to be a lot of legal challenges, right? Companies are going to push back.

02:28There's going to be lawsuits. And in fact, we do know that some of the nuances do require

02:33congressional approval. So it's not going to be a one-stop shop. It's not going to be a simple

02:37shift. As you remember, President Trump did try to make a similar law or similar order back in 2020.

02:44And of course, that was struck down by the court system. So it is a long, it is a bumpy road. But we

02:50do have a new push, really, from millions of Americans who simply say drug prices are just too high.

02:56Anna.

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