House Democrat wants to know why a pharma insider is overseeing Trumps drug pricing reform

[babylonsister]

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/9/17216404/house-democrat-pharma-insider-trump-drug-pricing-reform-why

House Democrat wants to know why a pharma insider is overseeing Trump’s drug pricing reform
Rep. Keith Ellison sent a letter Monday to HHS Secretary Alex Azar inquiring about the appointment of Daniel Best to oversee drug pricing reform.
By Dylan [e-mail]@vox.com
Apr 9, 2018, 2:50pm EDT


House Democrats want to know why the Trump administration is letting a former pharmaceutical industry insider oversee its plans to fulfill President Donald Trump’s promises to bring down drug prices.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), one of the top progressives in the House and deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, sent a letter Monday to HHS Secretary Alex Azar inquiring about the appointment of Daniel Best to oversee drug pricing reform. Best most recently worked at CVS CareMark before starting at HHS last week. He also worked at Pfizer for four years in the early 2000s.

”Given Mr. Best’s career working for the pharmaceutical and pharmacy industry, the decision to hire him poses significant potential for conflicts of interest, placing him in a position to make decisions that may pit the income of his former employers against the interests of patients in reducing prescription drug prices,” Ellison said in the letter, shared exclusively with Vox.

Ellison flagged past drug price hikes at Pfizer and a lawsuit filed against CVS CareMark by HIV patients over access to drugs. In general, pharmacy benefits managers are under the microscope of both parties these days for their role as mysterious administrators with great power over drug transactions.

The Congress member includes a string of questions about who was involved in hiring Best, whether outside groups (particularly pharmaceutical lobbying groups) were consulted, and how Best will prevent any potential conflicts of interest from getting in the way of his job description.

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https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/9/17216404/house-democrat-pharma-insider-trump-drug-pricing-reform-why

[CentralMass]

1. Pardon my skepticism but I doubt that they are trying that hard.