Washington, D.C. — As a part of the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s ongoing seven-figure effort to hold President Donald Trump accountable for his false campaign promises—and as a collection of former Big Pharma lobbyists such as U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar are overseeing drug pricing issues—CAPAF is releasing a new video in a targeted paid social media campaign. The campaign will feature the stories of Americans, such as Antroinette Worsham of Cincinnati, who have been negatively affected by the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs that companies such as the one Secretary Azar formerly led produced.
Watch the video on Twitter.
Watch the video on Facebook.
Antroinette’s daughter Antavia tragically passed away in 2017 after being forced to ration her insulin. She could no longer afford her 90-day supply that exceeded $1,000 after pharmaceutical companies doubled the price of insulin from 2012 to 2016. Secretary Azar came under intense scrutiny during his Senate confirmation process for his part in raising insulin prices by 300 percent when he was a top executive of the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, leading many to question if he should be trusted to address the problem of prescription drug price gouging.
In her testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Antroinette charged that the administration’s complicity in price gouging puts people like her daughter at severe risk.
Antroinette’s youngest daughter, Antanique, also has Type 1 diabetes that she manages with insulin, and she fears that her daughter will also be left with no choice but to ration her medication. As she says in the video:
- “The cost of insulin has risen about 300 percent. The cost to manufacture the insulin has not, and price gouging should be illegal in the United States of America, especially when it’s a drug that is a life-sustaining drug to keep Americans alive.”
- “How he [Azar] would really hold pharmaceutical companies accountable is mind-boggling. He was in it for profit, not the American people.”
- “For young adults in particular, these costs are outrageous, and something has to change soon, or more and more Americans are going to die.”
For more information on this topic or to talk to an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected] or 202.796.9712.