• 5 months ago
During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke about the Biden Administration's regulations on drug prices.

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Transcript
00:00On one final matter, earlier this week, Senate Democrats took up the Biden administration's
00:05banner of prescription drug socialism.
00:09Our colleague Chairman Sanders announced he would ask his health committee colleagues
00:15to subpoena a drug company executive to testify before the committee about the prices of innovative
00:22treatments.
00:24Never mind that U.S. senators shouldn't require remedial lessons in the working of the market
00:30economy.
00:32And never mind that the company in question had already expressed willingness to testify.
00:38Our colleague has decided to take the route of maximum escalation.
00:46I've discussed the facts behind America's world-leading medical innovation sector at
00:53length before.
00:56What innovator would sink the time, resources, and risk into the development of a new treatment
01:04if there were no prospect of recouping their investment?
01:08Apparently, Senate Democrats aren't the only ones who seem to be stumped by this question.
01:15The Department of Commerce is taking steps to finalize a framework it announced last
01:20December known as March-In Rights.
01:26Under this policy, if the federal government deems that the prices of certain drug treatments
01:33are too high, it would elect to march in and seize the company's intellectual property
01:40rights.
01:41It's a rather ironic twist that Democrats' proposed policy relies on a law of the Bayh-Dole
01:49Act of 1980 that was designed to do the exact opposite, to promote cooperation between government
01:59and innovators.
02:01This time around, the latest chapter of prescription drug socialism would send all the wrong signals
02:10to would-be innovators behind future life-saving cures.
02:17It would tell them not to take risks, not to build new things, not to invest their time,
02:24resources, and creativity to develop more of the greatest medical achievements the world
02:32has ever seen.

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