Alex Azar is no better or worse than any other Pharmaceutical executive....He is first and foremost, about financials (check out his CV). While financials are a consideration in decision-making, in corporate America, it's the driver for a company's existence. Shareholders over employees. Party over country. See a pattern???
Eli Lilly is probably strutting around, excited about this nomination because that surely means an increase in Cialis sales/profits for the male dominated power structure in Washington DC.
Sidenote: It's amazing that a pharmaceutical company can raise the price of their drugs sold in the US by any percent and yet, layoff 3500 workers. And by layoff, they mean offering "early retirement to those with x amount of years of service and around the age of 50" with the intent of hiring recent college grads with little/no experience and outsourcing everything else to offshore companies.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/eli-lilly-to-cut-3500-jobs-focus-on-deve...
Just another success story of Making America Great Again /sarcasm.
1
the same eli lilli that made LSD for the CIA? nothing bad to say about that.
The fox in charge of the henhouse? This seems already a tradition of brutus ignoramus Trump, naming deniers of the very posts they are assigned to protect and enhance. What could possibly go wrong (right, actually)?
Sounds about right for a Trump pick.....for any job. At least Azar has more experience for his new job than Trump had for his........and the results are obvious for Trump.
Azar, a right-wing stooge from one of the worst price-gouging pharmaceutical companies in the world, will be an unmitigated disaster for the public and the health care “system” in our country.
Hold on to your wallets, folks. Because if you get sick Azar and Trump will empty them in a flash and give whatever’s in them to the robber barons of big pharma.
'Mr. Leavitt added, “Alex doesn’t work for the drug industry — he works for the president of the United States.” '
Perhaps that is part of the problem. No, Mr. Leavitt, if Mr. Azar is confirmed, he will work for the American people. We need a president who demands loyalty to the Constitution and to the people of the United States of America, not to himself or his agenda (such as it is).
1
Sebelius put in place regulations designed to reward drug companies with extra profit in exchange for supporting Obamacare. She is now concerned that the rewards are going to be eliminated, demonstrating to the world the cronyism and corruption imbedded in the law.
there is a reason why between 2013 and 2016 drug prices, 70%of which are generics, increased 24% while the CPI increased 10%. That is on top of the increase in volume of drug sales and the reduction in discounting to the uninsured. Prices should not have increased.
1
So he too will be tasked with the goal of taking apart the DHHS. He will undoubtedly do so in a way that maximizes money for big pharma and the healthcare industries.
Will Trump supporters continue to be partisan or will they begin to understand that they will spend their money in the form of higher prices so that there are more profits for the people on Wall Street or to the government in the form of taxes. I predict that they will ultimately learn that taxes would have been much less costly.
What a perfect addition to the swamp -- another revolving door, influence peddling creature. And from big pharma, no less. Just what Americans need.
1
Michael, the choice of Alex Azar as the secretary of health and human services by Trump shows the pattern that our illegitimate president has taken recently that can be termed cowardice at first because Trump didn't have the guts to announce it while he was in the country.
Next, Trump's secretive action in this case amounts to 'creating more swamps' in Washington than 'clearing the swamp' of lobbyists as he promised in his campaign trips.
Now it's up to our Democratic lawmakers to derail the nomination of this Trump official who'll flood our country's pharmaceutical pipeline through fast approval of all the new untested and high priced medicines manufactured by his friends in the pill mill industry.
Being a former president of Eli Lilly and a deputy health secretary under George W. Bush's administration, Mr. Azar who 'recently called the Affordable Care Act a "fundamentally broken system" as mentioned in your article, will use all his power to dismantle the Obamacare first.
Next on the agenda for a man of his stature, Mr. Azar will encourage his former drug company and all other drug manufacturers to produce as many expensive drugs as possible which he'd promise them to approve at the breakneck speed, violating the 'antitrust' regulations set in place.
So now it's really up to our Democratic congress members to nullify his nomination even before the Republicans Senators bring it up for voting because like Peter Welch said, Trump"has set the fox to guard the henhouse."
We don't necessarily need lower drug prices.
What we need is to spend less, as a nation, on prescription drugs.
What if we could figure a way to leave all drug prices alone, and yet at the same time save $ billions? Obviously, no one would be against this. Right? No, not right: wrong.
Take a drug that has no proven benefit to the people to whom it's being prescribed; stop prescribing it. Lives may be saved, but some people will lose a ton of profit, and if you can be blamed for that, you'll be in a war.
There are undoubtedly many prescription drugs that people depend upon for their lives. In situations like these, the drug dealers may need to be treated a bit roughly for change to come. But what about when we simply want the dealers to do nothing? Couldn't we keep them out of doctors' waiting rooms, similarly to the way we keep other drug dealers a certain distance from our schools. Can't we find some way to stop them peddling their stuff to the most susceptible customers imaginable...who then prescribe it to us. StatinVictims.com
2
When I was in graduate school during the Nixon administration I was involved with an effort to oppose the appointment of Walter Hickel to be Secretary of the Interior. My opposition was based on the fact that Hickel, a business man and former governor of Alaska, was closely linked to the oil industry. Hickel turned out to be an excellent head of Interior. He was an environmentalist who helped establish the Environmental Protection Agency, and in the end was fired by Nixon when he came out in support of the students at Kent State. The point is that most of people commenting here know nothing about Azar and are simply shooting from the hip. Sometimes having a fox guard the hen house is a good idea, because the fox knows something about being a predator.
5
Dont
Don't be so willfully naive. Azar isn't your Hickel.
Great. He should know the business.
1
Not sure what is worse ... appointing this robber baron to head the HHS, or having dozens of congresspersons on the take from Big Pharma ... is there any difference?
2
Topsy Turvy, that's the way it's been and will be.
Trump does not say what he means, but he means what he says, all the multiple and incongruent versions of it.
Support him blindly and question not. Criticism is treason.
He is the master negotiator. He is more intelligent than all the other people in government. America will be greater and greater. America swallowed hook line and sinker.
I guess that's how you drain the swamp !!
1
Anyone who wants to work for Trump is suspect, not to be trusted.
1
As a personal friend of the Lilly family over almost a lifetime I attest this to be another inside deal and a pocketliner for all concerned.
Is there no end?
3
Good to see the WH cares about healthcare - that is the health of Big Pharma.
1
It's time for an independent investigation of Congress for corruption, fraud, racketeering, and treason.
Does anyone believe that they have the best interests of the American people or the country at heart?
They shouldn't be untouchable.
2
Another Trump Fox guarding a henhouse.
One of 'The Best People" (just not for the job)
"When Mr. Trump nominated Dr. Scott Gottlieb to be the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in March, Democrats sharply criticized the selection, saying he could not be objective because he had earned hundreds of thousands of dollars as an investor in and consultant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
But since taking office in May, Dr. Gottlieb has put pressure on drug companies to hold down prices and has taken steps to increase competition in the prescription drug market by speeding the approval of lower-cost generic products."
____________________________________________________________
People who understand a system are in fact better positioned than most others to make improvements to that system. Of course they're also well positioned for cronyism - but that shouldn't be automatically assumed. If such people truly have the best interests of the American people at heart and are willing to oppose their former employers and colleagues when necessary then we should at least be cautiously optimistic.
1
They're also in a better position to take advantage of the system and use it to further the Clown's and Congress' agenda of screwing over every non-wealthy American.
While that's possible it isn't a given. The term 'innocent until proven guilty' comes to mind.
It seems many on the Left can't imagine anyone in the corporate world could do anything good for society. Having worked in a large corporation for many years I saw lots of highly talented, honest people, many of whom served their communities in various ways both inside and outside of work. Yes there are those whose focus is mostly self-serving (and they also appear in places besides corporations), but they were not close to the majority of people - at least where I worked.
Keep in mind also that a supposedly well-meaning but incompetent person may be a worse choice for a leadership position.
I have no doubt that as head of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Trump's pick will do an excellent job contributing to the financial HEALTH of our drug and medical device corporations AND ensuring HUMAN SERVICES of workers they need will be outsourced to non-union, cheap labor abroad.
That little bit of snideness said, I could be and certainly hope that I am wrong. A case can be made that to genuinely reform a huge, regulatory bureaucracy, you need someone who knows well that which is to be regulated. The real question thus becomes how he will choose to act, and while his history might give many of us pause, it does not necessarily determine what he will do as head of H.H.S.
1
We're in free fall with healthcare. No telling where this will land, but we should know by midterms - healthcare was the top concern of Virginia voters.
As if this fundamental lesson on presidential perfidy needed further reinforcement: Watch what he does, not what he says.
Yet another leader from the Old Boys" Club chosen for a position of power that can benefit his former private industry gig. One thing we have to agree on about Trump: He has a terrific instinct for stabbing us in the back.
1
Certainly, a huge improvement over Mr. Price who had been 100% ideologically driven and not competent as an administrator.
2
Nice. A perfect example of the fox guarding the henhouse. We don't get a scientist or an MD but a lawyer to head HHS and oversee the NIH. Thank you President Trump. Another excellent appointment.
2
A lawyer who worked for a drug company for 10 years is going to head the US Health and Human Services?
Nothing humane about that.
7
An inappropriate choice made by an inappropriate president who does not care that the drug companies are ripping office the populace for drugs substantially cheaper in every other country. Impeach Trump.
5
It is absolutely outrageous that Trump chose a drug company executive for this post. Americans are already paying 3x more for drugs than patients in other countries
In fact it is worth the airfare to fly to Europe where you can buy your meds there in any pharmacy. Many Americans do this because no prescription is necessary for basic meds in Europe.
4
Orrin Hatch has said some dumb things over time, but his quote in this article might be among the dumbest. Hatch has always been on the fringe of transparent dishonesty. But he and his GOP colleagues have yet to draw a bright red line between integrity and corrupt, disingenuous activity. Nothing spells party over public interest than confirming Trump nominees, more than half of whom have conflicts-of-interest.
3
Great fox-henhouse idea! Maybe we could also get Avon Barksdale to be the head of the DEA.
3
Why the surprise? Trump has been as open about promoting a kleptocracy as he has been about promoting predatory sexual behavior, authoritarianism, scientific ignorance, and all around surrealism. Again, the problem is not Trump but his enablers, whether in the GOP hierarchy or in the general public.
4
"Instead of draining the swamp, he has set the fox to guard the henhouse." - Peter Welch (D-VT).
Dear Trump supporters,
How's that swamp draining coming along?
3
Trump puts another fox in charge of the hen house... is this considered a good business idea?
Is anyone surprise that the swamp is growing in depth and width?
2
Who did you expect, Florence Nightingale?
1
No surprise here: another fox who will be running the chicken coup.
3
Pretty obvious where this guy's loyalty lies.
2
HE looks like a perfect test subject for experimental medications.
Just saying.
3
One more fox in the henhouse.....not much room for any hens I guess. BUT Americans must love being slowly deprived of all their expectations....now even Health and Human Services....like the hens, not much more to dispose of.
...
That Shining City on a Hill is slowly being demolished by the very descendants of the original Puritans -- most often remembered as Witch Hunter-Killers.
...
People yearning to be free of dictators and slavery weep now for America.
1
Like the serpent in that ancient garden, trump the trickster instructs us all in the nature of good and evil: lies are truths, hypocrisy is virtue, greed is good. No need to wonder anymore what beast slouches toward Bethlehem. He's here.
1
We should rename this the Department of Big Pharma.
4
Just name it Eli Lilly and Co.
Of course. We can count on the worst possible choices for any appointment. This guy isn't draining the swamp, he's turning a fire hose on it.
3
Putin couldn't have chosen a more suitable candidate to disgrace the Office of Health and Human Services than a pharmaceutical industry czar...
... Yeh, and Trump.
3
Uh...a pharm exec and Trump is suggesting that he would work to LOWER costs? Given all of his appointments, I'll believe that when pigs fly.
3
A rabid wolf in the hen house. President Trump consistently makes the absolute worst possible choices for his cabinet posts.
He drained the swamp, and moved it right into the White House.
3
Mr. Azar will not crack down on drug costs when he has spent a decade working in the pharmaceutical industry. He said he will dismantle a program we have had since 1965, Medicaid. His plan will throw the elderly out of nursing homes, let disabled die, let children die and others when they can't get Medicaid which will be destroyed with block grants. Trump is completely incompetent.
4
Money money money. That is the only god.
Trump's only god, anyway. And likely the GOP's. Reading about Paul Ryan's so-called Catholicism turns my stomach. The policies Ryan advocates are completely antithetical to Gospel values and Catholic social teaching.
The department should change its name to "Health and Human Company." Government run like businesses: Republicans are getting their grand wish, and we're all going to suffer bigly.
1
After this wrecking ball gets through, we won't be able to afford aspirin.
3
Trump has great affection for KGB operatives who infiltrate our democratic elections and leaders who are comfortable with killing their own citizens.
Trump is a national disgrace.
1
Good bit of swamp draining there, GOPgators
Well, look who is bringing us the Swamp once again. Trump!
I guess it doesn't matter who Donald picks. We are in the sixth mass extinction anyways.
Here, down under in Brazil, the so-called president Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia - yes this is the Dracula's Butler full name - nominated a man from the private health plans to the Health Ministry. Can you imagine whah's he's doing with brazilian public health services?
Bur the orange-yellow haired , the twitter man, always tries to do worst. So, I can imagine prices of drugs skyrocketing around the world, thanks to Donnye anda Lilly's man Alex Bad Luck. In Portuguese, AZAR means, no coincidences, Bad Luck....
1
Another fox in the henhouse. Surprise !
But of course...
Yet another corporate insider chosen for a post...Wow! -- what a surprise.
One more fox. Same hen house.
This has got yo stop!
This guy is not working for the people of the United states of America.
I am tiered of feeling like a victim.
This is not America anymore.
1
Why all the subterfuge Mr. Trump?
Why not just put Eli Lilly directly in control of Health and Human Services? And put Exxon and Shell in charge of the EPA? And put Robber Barons in charge of the tax code? And put the NRA in charge of the Department of Education? And put career criminals in charge of the Justice Department? And put Putin in charge of Foreign Policy? And send Leona Helmsley to the United Nations?
OK, maybe not Leona Helmsley, but, the rest.... I mean what are you waiting for? We all know that Fox News never likes "half-measures".
4
Now we know why there are so many unfilled cabinet posts in Trump's criminal syndicate ... er ... administration - it takes a long time to turn over so many rocks.
1
In the picture, Azar has a look which says,
"Wait, really? You picked ME to lead the department.
Are you kidding?
Even I wouldn't pick me.
Is it the gold tie?
It's the gold tie, isn't it?
Sort of says "star," doesn't it?
My wife picked it out.
Said I looked less
outright evil...
Really, ME?
Alright,
where are the price-raising levers?
I like GOLD price-raising levers.
Strong, shiny levers you can really yank on..."
1
Trump continues to keep his campaign promise to Drain the Swamp. He just failed to mention that he would Drain the Swamp right into the White House!
We all need to be more discerning and less reactionary. Let's see, is it possible that a senior executive in a Big Pharma outfit has the chops and understanding to find the most effective way to manage our national interests relative to that industry? Heck yeah, if THAT's what they are motivated and charged to do.
So, how soon do we know where this guy is heading? Probably a few months.
Of course, there is the inconvenient truth of Trump's other appointments: certainly Pruitt has been in place long enough to make it pretty clear what his motivation and direction are. And Betsy DeVos and Tom Price established themselves as too feeble to be really dangerous, except as just wastes of time.
But the bigger issue is Trump's own patterns: looking at his pronouncements from long ago up to his Presidency, a few things are pretty clear:
--he has no actual beliefs, except in his own supremacy
--he responds to others only on the basis of how they pet him: Putin, Duterte, Bannon, Flynn, Arpaio are all examples of real outliers who connect with Trump because they don't call him out
So, I have grown tired of all the daily news stories about Trump's inappropriate mouthings: really? It's news to someone that the POTUS is really not even a real adult? Obviously, a better approach is to manipulate the poor wingnut in whatever direction you want. You have stiff competition (all the above plus rich blowhards beyond count) but a pretty simple playing field
While l see Donny is at it again. What a wonderful pick to lead HHS than a president of a drug company. I mean after all who would KNOW BETTER than
Azar what drugs are overpriced and need lowered. Good lord just when you think it could not get any worse, along comes Trump with another stupid appointment.
1
Talk about the revolving door! Something else Repubs will love and Trump lovers will ignore.
I didn't see any mention that he owns:
"...Seraphim Strategies, LLC, which provides strategic consulting and counsel on the biopharmaceutical and health insurance industries, including biopharmaceutical sales, marketing, pricing, reimbursement, access, and distribution, as well as federal and state healthcare policy."
In keeping with this Administration's view that ethics are for the little people, will he continue to operate his personal business?
http://www.wwsg.com/speakers/alex-m-azar-ii/
3
I don't suppose this guy would let us see his tax returns, would he?
1
If anybody knows how to break up the swamp in the pharmaceutical industry, this nominee does.
"Trump Chooses Alex Azar for Health and......."
Of course he did. It would only be news if he actually picked somebody qualified.
All of his picks follow an easily predictable pattern -- pick somebody completely unqualified, who will create havoc because due to incompetence (Ben Carson) or somebody who will deliberately burn their department to the ground (DeVos).
Move along, no conflict of interest to see here, keep moving.
1
It speaks volumes about Trump's perception about this post.
Anything backwards, upside down or utterly destructive is always what Trump goes for. This is spite like I've never seen. What did America ever do to him? Can he leave any stone unturned? This is scorched-earth politics, sowing salt in the fields. He's a force of darkness, just reveling in destroying everything.
It looks like Trump is bringing more of the swamp into his administration, lobbyists and conflicts of interest rule the day with Trump.
It would be silly to expect lower drug prices no matter who was appointed. Big Pharma has Congress in its pocket. This is at least better than Ben Carson at housing, nominationees for judgeships unanimously determined unqualified by the ABA, and others who clearly know absolutely nothing about the agency they will head, the work that it does, the nation they will go to as ambassador and so on and so on. As much as I loath the administration's policies, nominating someone who at least knows his way to work is a step up.
So this is how you drain a swamp?!?!
1
Oh right, a "pharmaceutical executive" will be "a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!"
Just like Heather Bresch (of Mylan) and Martin Shkreli worked to lower drug prices!
How can such insane absurdity be uttered -- or believed by anyone?
1
Well, another horrific appointment by a man who objected to being called "old," but somehow did not object to being called a "lunatic."
Even Trump's subconscious seems to know this.
So "draining the swamp" just means replacing crocodiles with alligators.
On second thoughts, it means replacing the turtles with alligators.
1
If I'm sitting out in Bark, Ark and now that my Obamacare is still there wondering when my man trump is going to lower my heart and diabetes medicine costs. Something tells me an insider from the Drug Industry isn't going to be fighting for me. I can't take him golfing or to 5 star restaurants.
As blogger Jim noted, is Mr. Azar the only one who answered the casting call? It has been reported in the Times over the past several months, (since Trump answered the call of the white nationalist torches and pitchfork gang to stroll into the White House unmolested, and yes, that is not just a pun), anyone picked to join this administration's gang of corporate shills should expect a call from TeamMueller. Such a call could result in very expensive legal expenses simply for being a member of ClubTrump.
One can only imagine the hilarity wiihin a full cabinet meeting as each corporate shill from EPA, Interior, Energy, Education, FDA, FAA, FCC, and the rest, openly discuss how they got rid of the roadblocks of regulation in favor of shareholder value and executive compensation, not to mention safeguarding their industry positions when they leave office.
The selloff of our national parks, environment, public schools, health and safety, national security, as well as our relationships and reputation abroad, is in full swing. How much damage is done, and how long it will take to repair that damage will depend on how soon Trump is removed from office. Once accomplished, even with Pence in the Oval Office, public pressure will have a decent chance of tossing the rats overboard.
To paraphrase W.C.Fields, "Thrown them [all] overboard and let the sharks take care of themselves."
And not a single word about how he would handle the opioid crisis.
2
This is a joke, right?
1
How much will drug prices be cut under this new insider appointee?
Look to see how much Eli Lilly’s prices have changed in the last few years and in which direction. There's your answer.
The Trump Administration is a form of Corporatism - or more accurately Fascism, as the faux "economic nationalism" of Bannon provides the mass base of White Supremacy and White Nationalism.
FDR warned about that:
"We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Of course, he's a former pharma CEO. Of course he is.
This man worked in several capacities in this department prior to his current position. Perhaps he has valuable information. Can anyone cut him some slack?
2
This could either be 1) Look who just let the Fox into the hen house to guard the eggs, big win for Pharmaceuticals if he get's into the position.
Or 2) if he turns out to be ethical, honest and focused on American people instead of shareholders he will have the best insider knowledge necessary to expose manipulation in the drug industry. Let's watch his stock trading to assess which side of the fence he's really on.
Swamp gets more muck.
We can forget about candidate Trump's promise to reign in "outrageous" drug prices.
I'll wait for the star to shine until Mr Azar supports health care for all and
Lowers drug prices to something below theft.
Prepare for total ban of drug importation from cheaper sources like Canada.
America is getting what it asked for, it just didn't think past its emotions when they made the choice. Maybe people will consider their vote a little more carefully when they emerge from personal bankruptcy form lack of insurance and crazy drug prices.
Perhaps the rubber ducky the Democrats would have preferred was presently in dispose in the bathtub.
What better choice to clean up the opioid crisis than a drug company executive?
1
The problems are the Kochs, Mercer et al and the Republicans who do their dirty work in making it all legal.
And in the near future, a full Republican Supreme Court to put a stamp of approval on the robbing of America.
So easy to see....
Yeah, he will be a "star" for better drug prices. Trump lies, like other people breathe, effortlessly, and without a second thought.
I might need to find a bookie. What are the odds Alex Azar outlasts President Trump? I might hedge the bet on which cabinet position is vacated next. Right now my money is on Jeff Sessions as Attorney General but there's obviously a margin for error. Ben Carson is probably safe but you never know when John Kelly is going to throw in the towel. Here's a better one: Who wants to bet whether or not Azar has financial ties to Russia? No? No one? I didn't think so.
The swamp gains another alligator.
Fox guarding the henhouse, way to go Mr. President!
This is another stellar nomination from the Mike Pence office. Lilly is a longtime Indiana-based company, and probably a long supporter of the VP. You can be sure this has been approved by the Koch Brothers, Pence's patrons.
1
No surprise here.
Another fox in charge of guarding the hen house.
Polluters running the EPA, Rick Perry at Energy, Betsy DeVos in charge of education, the former Exxon CEO as Secretary of State, and appointed lobbyists running policy from inside government and no longer from the halls of Congress.
But this isn't a new phenomenon, that problem predates Trump significantly.
Trump is just a more vile version of the status quo in this respect; not an aberration. And that fact in itself suggests how corrupt the political system is and how this needs more work than just getting rid of the ConDon and his swamp.
3
Won't be long before Donald names an American murderer on Death Row to manage all executions.
Mr. Azar's first move will be to make opioids more widely available and at a cheaper price, perhaps even government subsidized, to create a nation of poor white addicts in thrall to their Leader. When your whole life revolves around getting your fix, there is no time to complain about anything else.
1
The question is who is he working for: Trump, the GOP, the so-called health care industry, or for Americans and our safety and well being. If Mr. Azar fits the pattern of Trump's nominees he will be working on behalf of the industry he worked for, not Americans.
11
Given Trump’s cabinet and agency picks, we all can expect he will select El Chapo or Walter White to head the DEA.
1
The usual lines will be drawn here. The bottom line is that Mr Azar's former company, Lilly, has year in and year out had a perfect record supporting conservative positions and organizations. That said, Mr Azar's experience, personal moderation (I expect no perk abuse from him) and smarts cannot be questioned as is the case with so many other Trumpointments.
2
Since DHHS oversees Medicare, I guess we can eventually kiss goodbye that Obamacare phase-out of the Medicare Part D donut hole by 2020.
And seniors, beware: The recent budget resolution passed by Congress includes a $473 billion cut to Medicare over the next ten years. We already know how much Paul Ryan and most Republicans would like to "block grant" Medicare and make it a "premium support" or voucher program.
Drain the swamp!
Who says Mr. Azar is 'unqualified"? He is rich. His decade at Lilly means he understands why Pharma likes to charge much more for drugs in the U.S. than they can charge for the same drugs in single-buyer systems in Europe. He understands why Rx controlled drugs need to advertise on TV to consumers to drive sales. He understands how the
Doctor-Hospital-Pharma-Insurance Co. complex operates.
What better fox to guard the henhouse?
2
Why should this be a surprise? I don't think Trump has ever met a lobbyist or a former Goldman Sachs executive he hasn't wanted to hire. At this point, I forget if he wanted to fill the swamp or drain it.
1
Lets see which Republicans vote to approve his nomination and show their real colors again by not caring if they have conflicts of interest, whether they have experience in the public sector, have loyalty to their oath or lie under oath about their connections, their investments, etc "We the People" or "We the Corporation" Citizens United has had it effect and we can thank all the Republicans and so-called demo-republicans to help us get there. Treason to the common good of public comes in many forms, not just to selling out to other countries, but to corporations as well. The Paradise Papers are a must read.
10
Unless I meet the very high deductible on my health insurance plan, which is considered a good plan, I pay almost $300 monthly for the inhaler I need to remain asthma free. After the clerk at CVS tells me the price, she asks me if I still want it. Do I want to breathe? Yes.
The one and only thing I had hoped Trump would deliver was lower drug prices.
Fat chance.
1
This is another "sick joke" foisted on the general public. As a Nurse, I am ashamed and appalled to see coverage for birth control and drug addiction treatment eliminated while Cialis is still covered! When is the public going to wake up and care more about the sanctity of life rather than hatred, fear and prejudice? This is NOT the country I grew up in! Uncle Karma will get us if we don't change our priorities!
22
Being a likely candidate to Health and Human Services to Repeal and Replace the Affordable Care Act is exactly why he should be rejected.
1
It's pretty messed up when my first reaction to the fox guarding the henhouse was, "Well, at least this fox has some experience with this department, unlike most of Trump's cabinet."
My standards are so low that for a moment, this nomination seemed not-terrible.
2
Potential side effects: higher drug prices. Less access to foreign pharmaceuticals. More risky drugs rushed to market without adequate testing. Increased drug company profits.
1
He was a hack under G. Bush White House and was part of the cabal that created the Medicare Modernization Act, or Part D, the biggest giveaway to Pharma and a leading cause of the increase in healthcare costs over the last 12 years. He should recuse himself from any decisions involving FDA or drug pricing or coverage decisions, but he won't because in this Administration, being in bed with the industries an agency is supposed to control is a minimum job requirement for Cabinet secretaries.
3
What is Azar going to do once he completes his term as HHS secretary? He will only have this job for a few years, certainly less than a decade. Isn't he likely to go back to the pharmaceutical industry? Are we seriously expecting Azar to make enemies by fighting all his former colleagues? Or is it more likely he is going to be a friend to pharmaceutical industry, so when he goes back there will be a lot of grateful boards of directors happy to offer him various plush consulting and management positions.
1
There should be a law against the nomination of industry insiders to government positions.
We all know where this is going: drug prices will keep rising, the pharmaceutical companies will get ever richer and spend more money lobbying to insure this situation will never change. I wonder if we still can...
GAME OVER
1
I have no doubt that as head of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Trump's pick will do an excellent job contributing to the financial HEALTH of our drug and medical device corporations AND ensuring HUMAN SERVICES of workers they need will be outsourced to non-union, cheap labor abroad.
That little bit of snideness said, I could be and certainly hope that I am wrong. A case can be made that to genuinely reform a huge, regulatory bureaucracy, you need someone who knows well that which is to be regulated. The real question thus becomes how he will choose to act, and while his history might give many of us pause, it does not necessarily determine what he will do as head of H.H.S.
2
Drug costs are the fasting growing portion of the health care expenditures, are expected to increase faster than hospital, physician or administrative expenses, and are the part of health care that has most successfully resisted cost controls. Coming from Lilly, he should understand every stratagem used by the industry. Coming from Lilly, I doubt he will be the champion to combat these practices.
1
Yes! Because ever-evolving patented pills and gadgets priced high enough to bankrupt middle class consumers can surely save the day! Conflict of interest? What conflict of interest?
1
Yup, appoint the "right" star, i.e., mob lieutenant. Drug companies' prices will go up while their corporate tax rate goes down. Less money in the pockets of some very vulnerable and optionless consumers; less money for the government which it could use to mitigate the impact. Brilliant! The plan is moving along nicely bigly.
Normally, this would make me sick. But I'm going to try hard to avoid that: it's getting too dangerous be sick in these modern times.
Deputy Secretary of HHS under George W. Bush: Medicare can't use its huge bargaining power to negotiate drug prices in exchange for Part D drug coverage. What could possibly go wrong now?
What is wrong with the enforcement of basic laws and protections?
Each of these appointments, including the judiciary, must fill out a legal document to identify family members and others who are “likely to present potential conflicts of interest.” Mr. Alex Azar, Mr. Brett J. Talley, Mr. Paul Manafort, Mr. Jared Kushner, Ms. Betsy Davos, and Mr. Donald Trump, are clearly inappropriate due to their conflicts of interest. These protections from conflicts of interest are not suggestions, they are laws. The scale of these violations is mind boggling. As are the blatant omissions and lack of transparency. It is like lying on a job application, normal citizenry are summarily dismissed for falsely representing themselves.This is not normal.
1
If there is any detrimental action that will hurt the citizens of the USA, Mr. Trump will find a way to impose them. The biggest threat to Americ is it's President.
Sure looks like another "fox guarding the hen house" situation that are so common in the Trump administration.
Has Mr. Azar divested himself of any shares he might hold in the former company he was an executive in, or any pharmaceutical or healthcare businesses? Before the Trump administration, I would have taken that for granted. It's just basic. However, given that Trump himself has refused to divest himself, nothing is for certain.
1
I am thankful to Trump for one thing; we see who the real constituents and citizens of this country are. They are corporations and oligarchs. The rest of us are marks.
1
Because of the surge in drug prices, many of us buy meds from other countries whose governments regulate drug prices. India, Canada, Mexico offer US brand meds for prices 5 to 10 times lower than the US. Sure we have to pay out-of-pocket for these meds but that's often less, even much less, than what our copay would be if we bought in the US.
The US cost of some meds such as for diabetes have risen so high so fast that we truly can't afford them. We've all heard the stories of diabetics having to chose between using scant dollars on food for the kids or on their own insulin. This can't continue. My question is, why is this happening? We used to bat around the phrase 'good corporate citizen'. We don't use it any more. It certainly doesn't apply to drug companies, if it ever did. And they're making billions. Alex Azar can change this. His job description is to to bring about "better health care and lower drug prices". Let's watch and see how he does.
In an administration that likes industry insiders, this is also a nod to one of the most powerful corporations in Pence's home state.
1
The revolving door continues to work. In, to be attractive to corporate interests, out to a big job. Back in to bend rules favorable to corporate interests, to be more attractive on the way out again. The cycle of life in D.C. begins in the swamp and gets revived again there. Trump's idea of being environmentally friendly.... to the swamp that is.
1
The swamp gets deeper and uglier. What a lazy appointment from an inactive, distracted president, with little knowledge of health care or consumer needs.
Let's listen to consumer advocates:
“Just weeks after denouncing ‘out-of-control’ prescription prices, President Donald Trump shows he doesn’t mean it by nominating a former pharmaceutical company executive to run the Department of Health and Human Services,” stated the well-regarded Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a strong consumer advocacy group.
Soon Trump's supporters will feel the pain.
“The swamp only gets worse,” said Weissman. Former Secretary Price supported big pharma in the US Congress. Now, apparently, Trump has decided to cut out the middleman and let a pharmaceutical executive literally run the federal department that protects the health of all Americans.”
1
Let us not forget that the DNC and Democratic state organisations are doing the exact same things: picking big lobbyists (including from Big Pharma) for positions of power and influence. Look at Tom Perez’s recent actions, of what’s happened to the California state Democratic Party infrastructure.
Don’t let anyone tell you this is a distinctly Republican phenomenon!
3
I just heard on MSNBC that more than 50% of the nominees that Trump has chosen for his agencies have ties to the corporation that they are coming from. Including this latest one. I think if he is going to drain the swamp, he should start with himself.
1
His name wasn't familiar, but instead of opening up the article right away, I decided to play a little game: which would it be, a health insurance company lobbyist or a pharmaceutical company lobbyist? I should have known, it was neither, but another member of the CEOligarch class. Heaven help us.
1
Weren't pharmaceutical companies the same people that brought us the opioid
crisis? I thought Trump cared about that crisis. The fox will be in the hen house.
1
I think it is time that we all registered as Independent so that we can all keep an open mind and really focus on the issues that matter to each of us rather than our "tribe". Those of us that are not in the top 1% have a lot in common... we are all going to get hosed as our representatives distract us with social issues while they work behind the scenes to (1) build a tax plan for their wealthy donors, NOT us (2) gut Medicare and SS programs we have paid into our entire working lives (3) repeal the ACA and replace it with a program that will price out folks with pre-existing conditions, the big Pharma guy that T' has nominated will NOT lower drug prices . Let's stop fighting and really look at how we are being sold out by our representatives. Power is consolidating more and more with the billionaire class that has bought off both parties... look at what some honest R's have said about why they have to pass tax reform..for the donors. Let's open our eyes before it is too late.
1
Health care is more than drugs. But until we minimize drug rep power, "good health care" will equal five minute visits with prescription drugs, whether cheap or expensive.
1
There is no reason to expect that Mr. Azar will help the nation move forward with controlling drug costs. Why should he? HHS will be a short term gig while his relationships with Pharma illustrate both his past and likely future professional commitments.
That being said most of my colleagues and acquaintances in public health, who would have been infinitely more qualified for this role wouldn't touch it for any amount of money.
1
As general counsel and deputy secretary of H.H.S. under Bush, what role, or roles, did this nominee play in not permitting the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices with Big Pharma, particularly with respect to Medicare? This has long been cited as an enormous giveaway to the drug companies, while obviously responsible for increases in drug costs for the public. Senate staffers will be hard at work probing where Mr. Azar's fingerprints are located regarding this issue.
1
If the Pretend King Trump is impeached, does his minions go too? The GOP is trying to place many corporate insiders into agency positions. Good news, they do not know how the government works and they will try to illegally implement their plan and out they go with the tail between their legs or arrested. Without Congress backing them, hopefully 2018 will see a change of power in Congress, these agencies have no legal way of imposing anything. Lawsuits will proceed and we will pay for them. So why not make sure his minions get to pay for it before they are thrown out or leave office. One by one they will fall, now that will be a great reality show.
Once again, in order to "drain the swamp", this administration skips over the lobbyists and instead appoints one of the people who spent years writing checks to those same lobbyists. How is this supposed to be better? Mr. Fox, we know no one understands the threats to the hens as well as you. Please guard our hen house carefully.
How is this even legal?
The last paragraph says it all. After the tax cuts and huge deficit looms, the GOP lead by Paul Ryan will be assessing the "long term sustainability of both Medicare and Medicaid". Mr. Azar will be instrumental in defining the destruction and demise of them. Paul Ryan's dream will come true.
In the meantime, status quo remains with support for big pharma and anything they want to do. When will people realize that Trump loves his fellow billionaire CEO's and works for THEM, not us. When will people realize that Trump was and is lying. He just wanted your vote. He does not care about high drug prices.
In GOP parlance it's your fault you can't afford the drugs you need. As then Rep. Chaffetz so clearly told you "Maybe you should not have bought that iPhone" instead of paying your own way.
Dude is slick. He has repeatedly avoided getting stuck in the revolving door. But you really could not make this stuff up. A "star" on drug prices? Ely Lilly. Hello? The latest corporatist to join our low-esteemed Cabinet will fit right in with Rexxon and lapdog lawyer Pruitt by continuing to not faithfully execute the laws -- Obamacare. His vision for serving our health and providing human services is block granting/capping Medicaid out of existence. Shameful.
#SwampDrainersOfAmerica
Most Americans realize that the Oligarchs are running our country, and see the country as only as a means of increasing their wealth.
Th Oligarchs know that we know, but feel secure that there is nothing thing that we can do.
They control all branches of government.
The conservative Supreme Court says that "money talks", when they say that "money is speech". It's sort of $1 equals 1 vote.
We truly need to move beyond rhetoric at some point if there is going to be change.
We need solutions.
Are there any?
So Trump fans, how's that promise your POTUS made in 2016 to get prescription drug prices lowered coming along? Is this another example of "promises made, promises kept"?
What a surprise.....
Why not just let Jared do it? The guy is a superman after all. He knows all, does all, is everywhere and he is "like a smart guy" after all.
Fox....hen house...
When is medicine nothing but medical consumerism w all its side effects and exorbitant costs? How is that different than drug addition? Take one drug and need another thinking.
Self interest v. public interest.
In this corporatized America, self interest keeps winning.
Did you vote for Trump because of his promise to “Drain the Swamp”?
Azar is not going to guard the henhouse, he'll be inside stoking the oven fires and sharpening the knives. By the holidays, the prescription drug lord will be dropping cooked birds on every GOP doorstep.
1
It's a kleptocracy. What else would we expect?
Never thought I'd see the day when I declared myself a cynic. Every single action of Trump seems to be an act against the American people. The appointment of Alex Azar is tantamount to appointing a wolf to watch the sheep, originally expressed hundreds of years ago as “Ovem lupo commitere.” So I guess this kind of corruption has been going on forever.
After President Obama was elected we began to think we have made some progress in America after several hundred years of oppression of all people of color. Now we are all being oppressed by a petty tyrant who preys upon everyone who is not a billionaire.
1
Wonder how many shares he got for his "efforts" at Eli Lilly? Oh, right, no conflict of interest because they will all be in a blind trust and won't do anything when he makes decisions impacting their value. Of course, nothing to see here, move along. Thanks Trump chumps for subjecting the country to this fiasco of an administration.
Just another day in the Oligarchy of the United States.
I think this is the perfect example to prove that Trump's replacement appointees will be far worse his original choice. The more time this administration is in place, the more influence the far right can instill. It gives me nostalgia for early, bumbling days of the Trump administration, before every far right think tank and donor had hopped on the gravy train. Tom Price was a lemon, Mr Azar is a fox in the henhouse. What we are seeing is an entire and systematic dismantling of our entire political system. It did not start with Trump, he is just happy to be along for the ride, with all his new friends.
This is a 'yuge' improvement to our health care system - as in a 'yuge' boost for the profiteers that occupy big pharma.
This will distract the public from what’s going on behind the scenes with the right-wing judicial nominations. Or that Trump just shook the hand of a mass-murderer and called him “friend.” The noble idea of America has become a complete farce. Maybe it always was, and now we are seeing the truth, finally. And where are the Democrats? Their job could be so easy right now. The bar is so low with these criminals and incompetents in office ... Just being visibly decent and caring would go a long way to winning back our democracy. Where are they? Is there no time in your busy schedules to get out there and explain what this monstrous administration is doing to the country? Hello? Anyone home?
I've delayed posting to this news piece, having waited for comments to build, and knowing what monumental depths of opprobrium would accumulate from the commentariat. It’s time, though, to inject a needed element of balance.
At first glance, Trump is trolling for a force-five wave of contempt emanating from the New York Times, just because he knows he can get it. But there's another side to this that people not absolutely committed to outrage on all matters Trump should consider.
In 1934, when FDR took office in the depths of The Great Depression and vast government reform was initiated, the Securities and Exchange Commission was formed. Who did he nominate to be its first chairman? Not some bureaucrat possessing many years’ experience at managing apparats, but a certain Joseph P. Kennedy, who had made an immense fortune producing Hollywood pictures, (it’s more than rumored) in the East with a bootlegging operation that rivaled that of the early mobs, and … yes … on Wall Street as an investor. Many criticized the nomination as this one is being criticized, as risking the usual results when wolves co-habit with hens. Roosevelt thought differently: he resolved to set a thief to catch a thief.
Kennedy, despite his background, may have turned out to be the most effective and zealous reformer the SEC has ever had. FDR was vindicated in his choice and the nation benefited yugely. Give Mr. Azar – and Donald Trump – a chance here. Both may pleasantly surprise the nation.
1
Richard...Donald Trump is no Franklin Delano Roosevelt who welcomed 'the hatred' of organized money.
Trump is about to gift-wrap $1.5 trillion to the gilded class and himself while raising taxes on the middle class and bankrupting the treasury.
Donald Trump has appointed polluter Scott Pruitt to run the EPA, Amway billionaire Betsy DeVos to Jesusify public education and Rick Perry to run the Department of Coal.
These are all depraved choices.
Trump is depraved.
Welcome to the National Trump Swamp Creature Refuge.
41
Socrates:
There's this story. It's about where they hauled all the nuclear waste sludge of The Manhattan Project way back when. One version of the story has it being slogged out to the intersection of Route 17, and the Garden State Parkway in Paramus, NJ -- which back in the mid-1940s was basically farmland. The other version has them spreading it evenly in North-Central NJ and building downtown Verona over it. You suppose they split it?
Could explain the odd ideas that occasionally emanate from both locales on "depraved" choices.
And before Moderation removes this response, please re-read Socrates's response to me.
Richard, your general principle of give-the-new-President-a-chance is sound, but Trump has made a sufficient number of dubious appointments -- Flynn, Pruitt, De Vos (and to my outdoor mind, Zinke!) et al -- that I think one can reasonably be skeptical upfront about appointing possible foxes to guard the hen house. Could I be wrong to be skeptical in this case? I certainly hope so!! I much rather things work out for Trump and the American people than that I am right in my many doubts.
3
So, I guess his first job is to get Cialis in everyone's home. The next step is to eliminate any regulations on drug companies, and eliminate any liability, to poison, or addict, the general population.
If this is not the fox guarding the hen house, nothing is.
27
Oh boy. Here we go again. Yet another insider private drug business profiteer being nominated to rule over the very agency which used to be supposed to look out for the interests- of US taxpaying citizens.
This guy doesn't give two hoots about the taxpayers. He's all about handing favor, tax loopholes and all other deals, to his health care business tycoon buds.
Conflict of interest couldn't be any more self-evident than if it hit you in the head. Talk about the final nail in the health care coffin being driven in by the thoughtless hostile business takeover of our American health system via our own bought and paid for government. The business tycoons are taking us all for the ride of a life. And we sit by and do - nothing.
51
Another bitter pill from the Trump administration....
55
Who would expect any kind of public advocate to be nominated?
41
the you-know-what in charge once again puts the wolf in charge of the hen house - why not just declare himself a dictator and give up the charade that he thinks this is a government of, by, and for the people!
30
When I was in graduate school during the Nixon Administration I worked against the appointment of Walter Hickel to be Secretary of the Department of the Interior. The reason I was in opposition was because Hickel, a businessman and former Governor of Alaska, was tightly linked to the oil industry. Turns out as Secretary Hickel was instrumental in establishing the Environmental Protection Agency. Sometime it turns out that putting a fox in charge of the hen house is good idea because a fox understand all about the other foxes.
6
I suppose I can predict the kind of health advice HHS will be emphasizing under Azar. Hint: diet and exercise may not receive the highest priority.
36
The one thing we can all count on by now is that anyone Trump names will be the wrong person for the job.
108
When Trump said he would get the best people available for all the jobs he had to fill, what he meant was the best at doing what he does best, wheeling and dealing. And us fools thought he meant intelligence.
Yes, it is true, beginning with the president himself, but luckily we have Mr. Mueller III who appears to be doing a fantastic job so far D Price. Will have to be a little bit patient. His concept of Mr. Putin feeling insulted by the American is beyond my understanding.
Another fox appointment to guard the hen house.
20
As if Obama didnt do the same exact thing. See Goldman Sachs appointments.
Wow! This will certainly lower sky high drug costs. Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse! Typical Trump/GOP strategy of killing government from the inside out.
24
Well isn't that special - trumpolini appoints another hyper partisan republican fox to guard another hen house. You think supporters are catching on yet to the fact that they are the chickens? Nah...
38
No, they are too busy "winning".
1
When Big Chief Fox believes no one is looking he appoints clueless truck drivers and candle makers to serious government policy positions (read Vanity Fair’s USDA article) to carry out his orders. When the henhouse is closely watched he appoints what he believes is a fox in a hen costume. What a long 3 more years of this...
13
I see now: Draining the swamp = talking about it a lot, and perhaps even saying some of the right things, but then figuring no one will notice when you either preserve the status quo or make it worse.
I feel kinda bad for all those who voted for this guy and will end up hurt by his win. But only kinda. "Really, what did you expect?" is a form of "I told you so," which I try to avoid.
16
If Trump can't do something wrongly, or maliciously, or stupidly, or that's bad for people -- he just doesn't do it at all!
The appointment of Azar the far-right bagman for Big Pharma to supervise Big Pharma, Medicare, Medicade,the ACA etc., in place of the awful Tom Price, is only another example.
23
former head of Eli Lily USA division...I'm sure he's divested all of his Lily stock prior to coming on board...any best that this is true? No? Thought not....
13
Put him in charge of the DEA, too.
6
I take it Martin Shkreli wasn't available.
93
Now this was funny, I needed a good belly-laugh, thanks JimA!
Side effects included.
16
Trump once again, is filling the swamp
9
The more tRump does this the greater the backlash will be -- the party R will either implode OR rebel. I think IF any of them have any concern for the nation they will FIGHT and REJECT all his appointments going forward.
First topic at his confirmation hearing: Profits offshoring and tax avoidance in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
12
With this guy in charge, the Medicare "doughnut hole" will become a Black Hole.
21
It is no longer a "political" issue. Trump must go.
Dereliction of duty (for leaving so many posts empty) and
Gross incompetence (for horrifically unqualified bottom-feeders Trump did hire.
He is polluting everything he touches.
25
Never has the office of president had what seems a concrete policy of appointing the very worst person to head an agency, a "find the strongest fox, who will pledge loyalty, to place in the chicken house" mandate.
13
Otto, don't forget the cabinet choices Reagan made. 1981: he chose Anne Gorsuch to run the EPA into the ditch, to gut the department and replace the fired regulators with industry insiders: then, there was James Watt taking aim at Interior as that department's leader. The oil, gas and coal industries could not have found a better bag man for their agendas against clean air and water, all while gouging the American people.
And if the name, "Gorsuch" rings a bell, she was Neil's mommy. Can you imagine how Surpreme Court Justice, Judge Gorsuch will rule in lawsuits filed against Pruitt and Zinke?
You must be too young to remember Reagan.
1
Draining the swamp? That’s a croc. But perhaps the Everglades is the best analogy. Trump is turning loose a new species in the swamp (boa constrictors) and clearing the swamp of all those species—you know, native species, like possums and raccoons, and birds, and gators—that have been so troublesome over the decades. He’s just doing what real estate developers (some, not all) often do.
10
love your pun! agree agree!
Why don't we just hand over our government to corporate America? They own it. We "little people" have no hope.
21
We alredy have. A long time ago.
Another business executive to represent the interests of corporations over individuals by increasing profits and deterring research in healthcare.
8
Actually he might support pharmaceutical research grants.
It’s nice that we have this place to express outrage at the fact that we live in an Oligarchy, but we need more, we need change.
We are in trouble. The 1% is stealing everything in sight. They don’t care about the country other than as a money making business opportunity.
Seriously, it’s time to get down to real solutions.
21
Time to get 50 million people into the streets.
First Question at his confirmation
hearing: Profits offshoring and tax avoidance in the Pharmaceutical
Industry.
5
For a party exclusively dedicated to serving the greed of its wealthy constituents, appointing a pharmaceutical executive to lead HHS is a brilliant and inspired choice. And his efforts on behalf of the party's Whitewater persecution of the Clintons will surely rally fractured Senate Republicans to deliver a unified party-line confirmation vote.
Most of the other Trump cabinet appointments were chosen specifically because their knowledge of the agencies they head is strictly limited to ideological antipathy. Their job is to oversee the decay of their agencies from malign neglect. But Azar has the experience needed to transform HHS into an agency that promotes the greed of our medical-industrial complex. He will dismantle all the programs and services for non-wealthy Americans, and enthusiastically bring down the hated Obamacare from within if Congress can't repeal it outright. Then he will focus the agency on the specific mission of helping corporations in the medical-industrial complex maximize the wealth of their executives and shareholders.
Azar's appointment will give the Washington swamp a major infusion of fresh alligators, methane, and hydrogen sulfide that will give donors renewed confidence in the party they own. It's one more success for Mike Pence, the real brain of the administration who is steadfastly dedicated to exclusively serving donors' interests despite Trump's tantrums and tohubohu.
17
The appointment of Mr. Azar to the HHS is just another example of putting the fox in charge of the hen house. When Trump was elected, I concluded he was ill suited to the highest office of the land by temperament and knowledge. After 12 months, I am convinced I got that right, but now I see that he is controlled like a puppet by the Republican party. One of the primary functions of the GOP has been to shrink the government to a point where wealthy donors have maximum control over policies that are enacted to benefit the rich and wealthy corporations so that through deregulation they control the flow of wealth, mostly to themselves. When will the Republican party admit to this conspiracy that abolishes our democratic government and places the power and the money in the hands of the rich?
I don't know the Koch brothers or any other major donors to the GOP who push this policy, but I would further say that so little is known about them that we may be walking in to an oligarchy like Russia where they are in full control of the government to the detriment of its citizens.
11
So much for draining the swamp. Mr Azar has his conservative bonafides though and that's all that matters. Pharmaceutical companies are out of control. Time will tell but I'm doubtful that an insider is going to do anything to rein in the industry.
3
Wait, aren't big pharma execs the people Trump was excoriating not long ago for jacking up drug prices? New reports have also shown these companies to be the source of the opioid epidemic--didn't Trump just say a few weeks ago that was a national crisis? But somehow a big pharma exec is the best person to deal with these problems, I guess.
17
Right, just what we need: a wolf to guard the henhouse.
Not only is Trump refusing to do anything substantive (such as call for allocations) to deal with opioid addiction and other drug addiction in this country, he now has decided to actively harm the efforts of groups that are trying to help, including law enforcement personnel who are bone-weary of seeing overdoses of young people as the leading source of emergency calls to overwhelmed police departments.
We do NOT need pharmaceutical company players in the HHS. I thought that to be ill advised in the Obama administration, and my viewpoint certainly hasn't changed in this one. Addiction will flourish, and there will no efforts to help addicts. It will be a drain on public agencies and families, and it will ultimately hurt all of us. Trump can play with Azar in his sandbox if he wishes, but no pharmaceutical executive should be allowed anywhere near the HHS.
5
Saw who the nominee is and just started hooting with laughter. Sure, a pharmaceutical executive is going to do a wonderful job regulating drug prices!
Watch prices go through the roof and then sit back and listen as the administration talks about how unaffordable the ACA is. Trump and his people are so transparent. They are taking the ACA apart, piece by piece, using the devious, yet reliable Republican method of dismantling public institutions bit by bit - unnoticeably at first, but gradually making them complicated and dysfunctional in order to discourage people from using them.
Then they can turn around and claim that everyone is complaining about public institutions, and argue in favor of privatization.
Look, nothing is going to work as long as we keep putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse. We have a government full of businesspeople whose only interest in government is to see how much of it they can privatize, so they can transfer public monies to private pockets. This is how the rich get richer, and the rest of us are robbed blind.
Get out and vote in 2018, if you want to put the brakes on this kind of theft.
10
The depths of the swamp are endless, as creatures from the lagoon continue to emerge and populate the Trump takeover of America.
We are starting to feel hopeless as the atrocities committed by the Trump government takeover continue to mount unabated.
Are there any true American patriots in Washington willing to step forward, stop the carnage, and return government to the people?
7
Do we all remember how hedge fund managers and Wall Street tycoons were "getting away with murder" and Don the Con promised to end it by removing the pass through loop hole in the tax system. Howe did that work out?
Same old, same old. "Drug companies are getting away with murder". So Don the Con appoints the head of a drug marker to reign them in.
2
Great, another broken promise. Trump and the voters are dupes if they think Big Pharma, now in control of HHS, will lower drug prices to Americans.
2
He will take the industry approach to cutting costs, which is to cut regulators, boosting industry profits while making drugs less safe. Passing some of the extra profits on to consumers is not high on anyone’s agenda.
As with everything else he’s done, Trump believes that he only needs to tell people he is helping the middle class, and they will believe him. Unfortunately, with a large block of the middle class, he is correct.
4
Donald Trump nominated a pharmaceutical executive to be the next secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Well, of course he did.
7
Nominations like this one surely add to the steadily rising sense of cynicism in our country. This would be especially true among Trump’s so-called “base,” who feel ignored and manipulated by government and corporations. Selecting a Big Pharma exec to help oversee Big Pharma ought to be a sick joke, as it is among many Americans.
Thus, this question: who exactly is Trump serving, if not his base? The answer increasingly is Big Business, Big Banks, Big Energy and in this instance, Big Pharma.
How cynical is that!
7
Every one of the hen houses has a Trump Fox in it. The middle class has no chance.
8
Does anyone see this appointment going or ending well?
Why not appoint a public health official... a CDC researcher with admin experience or WHO member...?
Public health should be about prevention, early detection, intervention therapies, not necessarily drugs/pricing which are often the root cause if other problems, ie, opioids.
146
It depends on who you expect it to go well for. For drug companies? You bet!
1
Did you forget this is the administration that asked, "Why not replace a nuclear physicist with Rick Perry for the Department of Energy."
Brekkie4dinner - Why not appoint a public health official, you say. Great idea but passe, I guess. The last FDA commissioner with a public health point of view was Dr. Kessler in the 1990s. Since then, we-the-people have been stuck with revolving door officials in many departments of government, not just HHS.
1
Yet another venal fox hired to guard the henhouse. For Trump to claim a pharma executive will lower drug prices would be laughable, were it not for the fact that millions of dupes will believe him. And just watch, Republican senators are in on this con. The American public and our collective health and pocketbooks will, of course, suffer terribly.
20
not surprising that Trump would appoint an executive from 'We Lie Lilly' to be the star who will lower drug prices.
17
The insane asylum is being run by the lunatics. I said even before he was elected that if elected Trump will ruin our country and I was right. He is the swamp and everybody he picks, even if they seem normal at first, get dragged down in the swamp with him. Ex.: John Kelly, Sean Spicer, etc. etc. etc. This new guy isn't going to lower drug prices. Does Trump really believe that? Oh wait, he just said he believes Putin didn't hack into our election, so he probably believes Azar won't raise drug prices. Our beautiful country is in real danger. I'm reading "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" right now and it's an eye opener.
12
Another Donald appointee that is meant to kill or null the agency he/she is charged to lead.
We Americans are living in such dispiriting and humiliating times.
20
Looks like Trump is counting on another alligator to "drain the swamp". Will his voters notice? I think we know the answer...
5
Just when you think he couldn't name anyone worse to a department head level, he does. I know most responsible people would not accept a position with the biggest loser ever to occupy our White House but come on, the head of EL to bring down drugs prices is just plain ridiculous. Let's see how Sen Flake votes, for Trump and against America I'd wager.
14
Another conflict of interest. The more Trump does this the easier it will be to get rid of him. I am betting he will not win again. If he won in the first place. This President supports everyone but the US. Putin and China vs. our own Federal government employees. And now buddy-buddy with Duterte, who now it comes out killed someone when he was a teenager. This is so sad for America...the beginning of our decline in the eyes of the world. From Leader to weakling.
5
With this pick, it is obvious that it is not America or Americans whose interests the government wants to protect, but the interests of corporate giants like the pharmaceuticals.
14
Thirty years ago the revolving door between regulator and regulated was closed in 9 out of 10 cases. Now it is open in all cases! Sad
4
The rich get richer at the expense of the middle-class and those who find themselves in the lower class via policies and discrimination that has led to the incredible inequality in this country. "Sad."
2
Republicans' greatest fear during the Clinton presidency was the specter of 'socialized medicine.' They launched full court attacks against the Clintons on every front, including a failed land deal in Arkansas called Whitewater.
Alex Azar was a loyal and enthusiastic foot soldier in those endeavors. Now he gets to run an agency in charge of the ACA, a health program he undoubtedly detests. Trump's stated goal is to get rid of Obamacare. Is there any doubt there'll be renewed vigor in the war on expanding affordable and comprehensive healthcare?
5
Government of the rich, by the rich and for rich companies.
Are there no Republicans in the Senate who worry about Conflict of Interest?
10
No!
This is the time Americans need to get off the couch and away from the computer and stop these people now before it is too late. The next generation will either despise what we did or will congratulate us for saving their generation.
12
So he nominated a past president of Eli Lilly to monitor drug prices? He's kidding, right? That's like asking a guy from Goldman Sachs to run the Department of Treas.... oh
16
So this gentleman is a lawyer & a pharmaceutical company leader? He isn't qualified for the role by way of conflict of interest as well as a complete lack of medical knowledge. Another incompetent pro-corporate choice fielded by Trump team...now they are pandering to big pharma while publicly yelling the opposite. Nothing surprises me anymore.
3
Why is anybody surprised? Has this not been Trump's M.O. from day 1?
1
The people who voted for this turkey should be quite happy and content with the continued draining of the swamp. Their healthcare costs will rise and now so will their cost for drugs, oh and your taxes too! But still you all must be pleased as punch to know that your POTUS is looking out for you with yuge tax breaks for corporations though. But hey he still surrounds himself with the brightest, smartest people in the world helping out and advising him. So remember all of this when he comes up for re-election. And don't hurt your shoulders from patting yourselves on the back with your sterling choice of president you may send yourselves to the poor house with the costs of repair.
3
An in-depth discussion of Trump's nominations becomes a boring rehash of the same topic.
He promised to drain the swamp. Nah. He's just hand selecting the healthiest alligators to replace the ones that were there previously. Trump says "lower drug prices" and nominates someone whose practices are to raise prices at every opportunity.
Trump's base will never get it, but swing voters are starting to realize what a hypocritical compulsive liar we have for President.
5
Let's look into these nominations -- it appears that government is for sale. I wonder what the quid pro quo is for industry executives to get their names into the bag. Clearly, Trump is not nominating these people for their public service outlook. So....
4
There's an old expression to describe a situation like this - "Colonel Sanders babysitting for your chickens."
4
With this nomination, Trump is once again poking a finger in the eye of consumers. Hopefully this one won't be riding around in chartered air craft. This nomination is kind of like putting Putin in charge of the US Military.
7
Shhh. Don't give Trump any ideas.
4
There goes Trump, draining the Swamp again. But I suppose we can at least be thankful that this one has some experience with the agency he’s going to run. And, as a bonus, he can probably fly taxpayer free on the Eli Lilley corporate jet...
9
Wow! That swamp sure is squeaky clean! Fox, henhouse, etc.
4
Yet another fox in the hen house. Trump puts polluters in the EPA, liars in Justice, Amway in education, etc.
Mr. Mueller - get this treasonous clown out of our White House!
4
The Glorious Ledaer appoints only men sworn to destroy whatever agency they are put in charge of. Just look at the EPA. With every appointment, he spits in the face of Americans.
12
Whatever a cabinet's purpose, Trump will pick a Secretary to lead it at light speed in the opposite direction. He's not unpredictable. Democracy? Think Totalitarianism. Oversight? Think exploit. Foreign allies and human rights? Think Russia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and China. His mission is to dismantle the government through incompetence, stupidity, and greed.
13
Never gets better only worse. In my opinion no one who ever worked at a pharmaceutical company should be in charge of regulating drug prices. Medicare probably should do it. And hasn't Trump paid attention to the amount of Americans who signed up for the ACA recently, even tho Trump did everything he could to kill it. The number of sign ups were very high.
17
"Never gets better only worse. In my opinion no one who ever worked at a pharmaceutical company should be in charge of regulating drug prices."....And who would know more about how to regulate drug prices than someone who has experience with a pharmaceutical company? I suppose you would rather have someone in charge who knows nothing about the drug industry? That makes no sense. Whether or not he would make a good Secretary depends entirely on who he decides he is working for.
I'd rather have someone who does not have personal and financial ties to the industry he or she would be supervising. Personally, I'd worry that that person is serving the industry instead of the American People. Trump has picked people with deep ties to the industries they are suppose dot regulate or people who politically and philosophically want to destroy the agencies they work for. Most of Trump's appointees don't think they are working for the American People but the Party or Big Business.
4
So he will be selling off his shares in any pharmaceutical companies? If not, there is a HUGE conflict of interest. As someone else said, if he was president of Eli Lily's US division why hadn't he already lowered those prices? And everyone who supports the president's choices, one of the biggest things I've heard is we need less government, less regulation. So how is that accomplished but you want him to regulate drug prices...so why would anyone believe he is actually going to do anything of benefit?
1
If he is going to be so good at lowering drug prices, why hasn't he already done that as CEO of a drug company?
55
Azar will lower drug prices the same way billionaire CEOs will share their wealth with their employees.
35
A pharmaceutical executive is going to help lower drug prices? Sure he is. Was Shkreli not interested?
23
"A pharmaceutical executive is going to help lower drug prices?"....So the next time you have a problem with your car you are going to take it to someone who has no experience as an auto mechanic?
@Spitzer: Disingenuous and deceptive reply. Anyone with a degree in public health, with work experience in any public health institution, would be better qualified to run the Department of Health and Human Services than an industry insider. How about someone who is interested in protecting the health of average Americans and in providing human services to the public?
Oh, wait, that would mean putting the public's welfare ahead of corporate profits. And we all know that protecting the public from the predations of hyperdriven capitalism is the last thing on the Republicans' agenda.
At least we know where you stand: you prefer dead Americans to lower stock prices.
9
So only CEOs of drug companies know how to lower the cost of drugs? If they had any inclination wouldn't they have already done that?
It is not hard to see the intention here. It's the same old same old.
6
And this is supposed to surprise us? Best way to destroy, (in Trump's world), is to place someone in power who will purposely undermine the credibility of that agency or department.
8
Revolving door.
7
That is the worst possible choice for this country, the best choice for Big Pharma. As a nurse about to retire after 45 years of watching people struggle to get and keep affordable health care, I am so concerned. This is not a cabinet, this is an armed businessman's camp.
25
What a great idea....let’s turn over regulation of another sector to an individual that has fought against any type of regulation that would actually help people.
9
Do you think the president of Big Pharma will be willing to negotiate with Canada for lower drug prices? Really I'm asking seriously
6
The whole idea that you can lower drug prices by importing from Canada is a fraud. Canada is 1/10th the size of the U.S.. The pharmaceutical companies know exactly how much of any drug the Canadian population consumes, and they will strict Canadian purchase of the drugs if they start to import any more than they need.
Wrong, Canada like most nations that have single payer health care has a unit that negotiates the price of drugs with Pharma. The Bush II prescription drug benefit law for Medicare recipients actually prohibits this. This is one of the reasons why Americans pay the highest drug prices of any developed nation. If you think that free market forces will lower drug prices you're sadly mistaken.
Trump has placed so many foxes in the hen house, they're going to be scouring the landscape for new sources of hens to protect. What a great Christmas for Big Pharma--corporate tax cuts and one of their own to head the HHS and help them protect their bottom line.
I suppose we should be grateful that he didn't pardon Martin Shkreli and nominate him. Like a child starting kindergarten, Trump is learning to exhibit some self-restraint. The kind of restraint President Tough Talker showed in publicly kowtowing to dictators in China, Russia and the Philippines.
7
Trump probably forgot about Martin Shkreli or he certainly would have offered the job to him.
A graduate of Yale Law School, Mr. Azar is also likely to be a key part of continuing efforts by Mr. Trump and Republican allies to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. - nuff said!
6
Eli Lilly has a terrible reputation for pushing dangerous drugs, going so far as to ghost write journal articles posing as unbiased information encouraging physicians to prescribe their products based on inflated claims. Fresh off of a promise to address the opioid crisis, Alex M. Azar II, Eli Lilly's former president, is Trump’s pick to lead HHS. What could possibly go wrong?
10
"Eli Lilly has a terrible reputation for pushing dangerous drugs,"....Can you cite a reference?
3
Eli Lilly admitted to the USA in a guilty plea that they pushed the dangerous drug Zyprexia and they paid a $1.4 Billion fine for it. That solidifies their reputation as pushing dangerous drugs onto vulnerable human beings.
...another fox gets into the hen house, a trend that's been going on for quite some time, unfortunately. One look into Lilly's record will reveal its predatory behavior for the sake of the bottom line, not health - drugs illegally marketed, causing much loss of innocent human life (Prozac, Zyprexa, etc.). Large fines levied by the Justice Department against the company, fines paid - "cost of doing business". Behavior change by the executives involved - none.
7
At his confirmation hearing the Democrats should ask him what his plans are for travel, private jet, military jet, or like the rest of us, commercial coach? That ought start the hearings off on the right foot.
Then start pinning him down about Eli Lilly's lack of transparency with the costs of manufacturing insulin and the enormous profits it is making on the medicine. The Times ran an article on this subject back in January.
10
Precisely how will lower drug prices be achieved and what does it means for drug consumers? In short and precise tax payers will provide price relief courtesy of government policy that increases subsidies to drug companies which will increase their marketing efforts to push more pills. Don the Con will be loved by the big pharma drug pushers who will return the favor by donating more money to his favored candidates. In the end this is more welfare to the rich and powerful paid for by the taxes and very health of the middle class. SICKO!
4
Another fox guarding the hen house. This would be boring if it wasn't so infuriating.
4
Another fox invited into the health industry hen house. Conservative former prosecutor of Clinton clerk for Scalia insures right wing policies favoring the industry will prevail , Trump admin along with GOP wants to eliminate the "the New Deal" and establish the oligarchy they both dream of with Trump as America;s Putin.
1
Get a fox to guard the henhouse! Drugs for everyone as long as they are provided by big pharma. In Nevada the lawmakers made the liquor distributors (who already have a monopoly throughout the country) the only ones legally able to sell marijuana to dispensaries. Recreational use of marijuana is legal in Nevada and many other states.
3
When he was working for GWB, the Medicare part D plan preventing Medicare from negotiating drug prices was put into place. This appointment should really work out well for the tax payers. Another corporate stooge joins the swamp.
7
for any appointment one only has to
ask, who would be the worst choice
and 45 then picks him/her...
4
Lucky for Mr. Trump that the swamps of Asia inspired him to appoint this swamp denizen to lead the agency that will oversee the ministration of the products his industry produces. Well done again! MAGical thinking prevails!
Lucky we have a watchdog US Senate that will provide the best agency administrators we have available in the US.
I never get tired of all this winning!
6
Great choice...makes almost as much sense as the rest of them... hurry, Bob!
2
We know that Don Trump is damaged goods, an ignorant man, one unconcerned about ethics or conflicts. Don Trump is concerned only about himself and the other 1%ers. He nominates many who are conflicted in the position or who are directly at odds with the mission of the agency.
So this nomination should surprise no one. If you are shocked, shocked then you have not been paying attention.
The key is becoming what will the GOP do? Will the Senate confirm? If so, they are simply demonstrating, as they have already to a remarkable degree, the GOP dishonesty and hypocrisy.
Does the GOP have the courage and fortitude of Lincoln or the moral courage and ethics of Trump?
5
Just what we need heading HHS, a lawyer! At least Tom Price was ostensibly qualified in that he was a physician. Clerking for Scalia and then selling drugs for Lilly hardly qualifies Azar (or anyone else for that matter) to run HHS which has purview over several science and medicine-based organizations from the NIH to the FDA to the CDC to BARDA to Medicare/Medicaid. I suppose the only “real” qualification Azar has is that he is an arch conservative in the mold of Betsy DeVos and Scott Pruitt.
2
Not many qualified people are willing to take positions in this administrations. It isn't clear to me whether Trump really thinks this is the guy, or if this guy is the only one who showed up at the casting call.
Either way, one more step downhill.
230
Trump doesn't have President Grant's excuses. Or virtues.
1
He would have asked Ken Starr directly, but he's being tapped for the Roy Moore investigation.
2
He thinks at a 4th grade level, so....probably not a factor.
How did he do when he was the DEPUTY Secretary?
",,,Mr. Azar would be a key player in implementing Mr. Trump’s efforts to crack down on the prices that drug companies charge in the United States..."
Obama is often criticized for cutting a deal with the drug companies not to complain about price hikes, in exchange for the drug companies' agreement to support the ACA.
But even though Obama was guilty of that, had Bush been any better? Or Bill Clinton before him?
It's long struck me (and many others) that the real problem with health care is costs. The two major parties differ in who should pay those costs, but they both dance around the main issue: cost containment.
When Azar worked for HHS earlier, did he contribute anything toward cost containment?
13
So he worked in the pharma industry, went to work for the Bush admin, then went on to be CEO of pharma company and now he's back in government. And the revolving door is spinning!
15
I have no doubt that as head of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Trump's pick will do an excellent job contributing to the financial HEALTH of our drug and medical device corporations AND ensuring HUMAN SERVICES of workers they need will be outsourced to non-union, cheap labor abroad.
27
disagree. this isn't (even) good for big pharma. just cronies pockets.
The revolving door is spinning ever faster.
6
How do Trump supporters not see that he is filling the swamp?
28
Like it or not, Bernie Sanders was right. Almost everything "The Tweetster" stated he was going to do if elected, has turned out to be nothing but a pack of lies.
59
deus02 - "LIke it or not, Bernie Sanders was right, " you say. To get an idea of BigPharma's ethics, watch (or read) John LeCarre's "The Constant Gardener", which was based on Pfizer's drug testing on children in Nigeria. The biggest lobby in D.C. is BigPharma. Public Citizen is right - wait for seven years to take a new drug. By then the side effect profile will be somewhat clear. Don't count on what the F.D.A. does or doesn't say as to safety.
1
Tom Price was, for all his faults, probably incapable of genuine evil.
We'll see about this guy.
Donald Trump is incapable of genuine perception, obviously.
Regards,
JV
7
This is like hiring a bank robber to head the Treasury.
42
Oops, I think he did that, too.
5
and yet again I say...
hey there Bernie's babies; still saying there's no difference between Trump and Clinton?
Thanks.
25
And Brad,
I say to you - Why is it you still insist on substituting one hardcore criminal for another, when you know that Bernie Sanders was our one shot, in a generation, of getting true representation in government, for all of the people, instead of all of the corporations, all of the time.
A year into Trumps reign, and clearly the man is the worst of the worst, and every day we hear more and more, and more, about the Clinton gang and their criminal and self-serving ways, the latest being the exposure by Donna Brazille of their purchase and takeover of the DNC, to insure no other candidate would stand a chance of getting the nomination.
A new Peoples Party, of the people, by the people, and for the people, (the original intent of our Founding Fathers), is the only solution, and we had better get active lest both the Republicans and the Democrats locks us out for ever.
1
There's a huge difference between the two. When a Clinton does something shady, he/she at least knows to hide it away from public view (like that one time she stole the election from Bernie and his "babies").
1
Pharmaceutical companies have been perhaps the biggest reason for the rising costs of medical care: as they have shifted from finding cures to finding lifelong treatments that addict people to drugs – opioid painkillers, cholesterol-lowering drugs, ADHD medications (amphetamines), and others. This is an industry with the power to do so much good in improving people's lives, but that has chosen to instead profit from illness. Every medication treats one thing and causes many side-effects, which in turn need more medications, so it's a great cycle of profit for the companies, and a cycle of misery for patients. Doctors have been trained by pharmaceutical sales reps to prescribe medication instead of changes in diet, more exercise, more sleep, sunlight and fresh air. Appointing a pharma exec to be secretary of HHS will ensure that the predatory pricing and immoral business model of these companies will thrive, and people's health will suffer.
41
in 2003, bush and friends locked down stability or price reduction in that market -- unless our friend trump can remove the law that prohibits the govt. from negotiating prices (as he promised.)
"Pharmaceutical companies have been perhaps the biggest reason for the rising costs of medical care:"....Drugs make up only about 15% of the total cost of healthcare. The average pharmacy marks up the wholesale price of drugs 40% to 50%. You may be more painfully aware of the cost of drugs because you pay for them out of pocket, but your statement is no where near correct.
1
This is the swamp that Trump said he would eliminate. Mr. Azar II is the prototypical bureaucrat. His career has been a revolving door from government, to high level administrator for big pharma, to a lobbyist for drug companies and now back into government. This individual cannot be trusted to advocate for price control of pharmaceuticals or for the legitimate control of health insurance costs. One only need to read the description of his CV to see that this is what a "political hack" looks like.
117
Who would you hire as Secretary of HHS? An academic with no understanding of how big medicine games the insurance and billing systems? How about someone from the Kaiser Foundation? How about the Kaiser Foundation explain first why it is that its sister corporation, Kaiser Permanente raised prices 33% between 2013 and 2016? Not only did every household not see a reduction of its annual medical costs by $2500, medical costs increased because the big medicine players got to raise their prices.
The AMA, insurers, hospitals, drug companies have launched a major public relations campaign that modifying or eliminating Obamacare will be detrimental to consumers. They are far more concerned about their own profits.
More swamp draining!
5
Good grief.
3
And I've just nominated a fox to guard my local hen house.
'Nuff said.
VOTE>
27
Nothing personal against Mr. Azar, but I will be interested to see if he has any problem biting the hand that has fed him the past decade. Picking someone to crack down on drug company price gouging who has been responsible for drug company price gouging is par for the Trump course instead of a hole in one.
31
There's going to be a very big job cleaning up after this president. None of the many predators to whom he's pandering had better get comfortable with the goodies he and the GOP are passing around. The day of reckoning is coming, coming soon, and it is more, not less likely to come with a vengeance because of Trump. Trump's fake populism is nothing to the rage against the privileged and wealthy that will flow once his fraud is fully understood by the American people.
51
"Mr. Azar’s nomination is likely to raise questions about Mr. Trump’s commitment to pressuring drug companies to lower prices in the United States."
a perfect example of the fox guarding the henhouse; this is how trump get's rolled by insiders connected with special interests. he leaves these decisions to those wanting to protect these interests in direct contradiction to his rhetoric. you have to wonder if he can make this logical connection based on how inconsistent his appointments are with his rhetoric tweets, etc.
9
The continuing nominations of persons who are key players in the industry they are supposed to regulate is the logical end state of "running government like a business" that Republicans love to tout. In practice, the goals of business are to maximize profit and a key goal of government is to ensure "fair competition" for the public. What we are seeing here is the continued tilting of the scales as "fair competition" morphs into "running government to ensure a fairly large private profit". Once again, the citizenry is at the end of the line in this business-centric view of government. If anyone thinks Mr. Azar will make address the soaring costs of drugs in the US, please raise your hand.
18
Running the government like a business means more profits for the CEO.
Donald Trump, CEO of America INC.
2
It has to be deliberate...it just has to be Trump's deliberate attempt to show us how radical our reform needs to be. The whole system has become rotten and the Dems didn't do nearly enough to clean things up when they were in power, so Trump is slyly -- although not quietly -- exhibiting the worst of what American culture and values have become, so we look for true alternatives And I'm sorry, no Democrat fits this bill.
1
What a horrible joke.
It puts a member of the price gouging industry in charge of a huge part of the social safety network - Medicare, Social Security, etc - where he can do real damage.
More insider stuff coming, Trump continues to wreak havoc on government with more ill informed appointments.
29
America is finished and it is now run by the oligarchs. The same system we fought to get away from Great Britain only to do it over here. History is repeating itself once again.
20
Not sure we will ever completely recover from this presidency, not so much the politics, but the fatuity and total inversion of truth-Trump has transcended truthiness, this is another Orwellian initiation on his part . Dems need to pause and consider what is at stake here in the next four years. This is like a bad Hollywood script reality show . Mueller is quite frankly our only hope. Corker, McCain will be gone in two years, numerous court appointments will start to have an impact, including 1-2 more SCOTUS flips, and dems will still be narcissistically fighting identify politics within the party. Cory Booker, Liz Warren, Bernie Sanders or an 80 year old Joe Biden , all people I'd be happy to have coffee with, are all much weaker candidates than HRC was in 2016. Blithe assumptions that Trump can't win electoral college again are very misguided and dangerous.
16
Are the Dems really the solution to this problem? Lets be honest and say that the issue of pay to play politics is a structural one, eg Citizens United, that transcends party affiliations.
1
How could he be worse than Sec. Price? His bona fides precede him. So called Obama Care is on life support and even the multiple attempts to eradicate it have not succeeded, with the new premium increases it is irrelevant to the conversation. Let's move on.
1
What a sick joke, counting on the head of Eli Lilly to reduce medication prices. Eli Lilly manufactures a self-administered injection drug I use once a week to control my diabetes. It costs $700 for each 4 week supply. My Medicare Part D insurance covers half of the cost, but it is still expensive. The base price of $175/injection gives me little hope that Mr. Trumps nominee will be a prescription drug cost cutter. No surprise.
287
Right on!
I feel your pain.
I am a Type II diabetic. I have not graduated to your drug yet.
And I hope that I never do.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act aka ACA aka Obamacare began by Barack Obama bowing down to and buying off Big Pharma and Big Medical Device by not controlling their costs nor their prices.
I am also a cancer survivor who is controlling his high blood pressure and high cholesterol and atypical atrial fibrillation by multiple medications. Before I aged into Medicare I was being financially skewered before and after Obamacare.
Single payer yesterday. Single payer today. Single payer tomorrow.
1
Under Bush, part B was established to help retirees defray the cost of their medications. Under Obama, regulations were written to encourage the drug companies to maximize their profits.
Here's some news for you. The list price for your drug is $700. It is sold to the uninsured at a 45% discount, or $385. You are paying $350. Your insurer or pharmacy benefit manager is not paying full list price for your drug, so that "50% copay" on your tier three drug is a bogus 50% of list price and does not take into account the fact that the drug company is not receiving the $700.
Think about it this way. You are paying $30/month for your part D premium and the taxpayer is paying $120, for a total of $150/month. If the insurer were shelling out $350/month for one drug for you, along the insurer share of any other drugs, your premiums would be far higher. You think the drug company is ripping you off because they are charging $700, but it is the opacity of the pricing mechanism that makes you believe the $30/month is a good deal for you.
Note, nothing in my comment should be taken to excuse the behavior of the drug companies in raising prices for generic drugs. But they are not the only bad actors. The FDA drives manufacturers of generic drugs out of business, which allows the remaining suppliers to raise prices. The pharmacy benefit managers and insurers play games with list prices.
1
You're kidding,right??
13
oh for crying out loud he is like the little kid that is a pest and keeps bugging you all day every day
4
I take it "El Chapo" was unavailable.
124
wow.
3
Drained the swamp, put in a cesspool.
68
Trump can come up with a cabinet nomination while he's overseas, but has to wait to get home before he can come up with a response to legitimate accusations of sexual abuse against underage girls by a senate candidate?
111
Vanessa,
As you probably figured out shortly after posting the comment above, Trump tweeted BOTH items while he was overseas.
Frankly, I couldn't care less whether Trump tweets his communications (as do all Trump opponents). I DO wish he'd clean up his prose a bit -- no grammatical errors, for example: a US President should know the difference between "there" and "their."
1
One obvious failure of all of the recent administrations has been the inability to come up with policies that will lead to cost containment in the drug and health care industries. The problem is complex, but a major factor has been the profit motives of interested parties and the corrupt system, known in the US as lobbying. If you believe that an ex-drug company executive leading HHS will help the US public have a better and less expensive health care system, I have a very attractive bridge you might like to lease or buy!
87
Would you prefer someone who has no experience in the healthcare industry?
4
Jack Chicago - It's not just cost containment that is needed with BigPharma. It's the way the drugs are represented and marketed to doctors and the public as well as the way the FDA does (or does not) regulate their safety. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department gave Lilly a $1.4 billion dollar fine for civil and criminal offenses related to its off-label marketing of the dangerous drug Zyprexa. Such fines, as opposed to trying executives in the court of law, do not change behavior in the industry one bit.
2
It is not an "either-or" situation. Or to put it this way: We have a hen-house. We have chickens in the hen-house. It's not like we have to choose to have a fox guard the hen-house or nothing. There are many perfectly acceptable dogs out there who are willing and able to guard the hen-house. But to put a fox in charge of the hen-house? No matter how decent and honorable the fox is, eventually, you're going to end up with a hen-house full of bloody feathers and broken shells.
2
A big round of applause for the new $ecretary of $tealth and PhRMA $ervices.
If you're unfamiliar with America's Robber Baron era history from the late 1800's...don't worry...no need to study....the Robber Baron Era is back and it's bigger than ever.
Government of the swamp, by the swamp, for the swamp, shall not perish from this Trumpian mud pit.
We're going to need a much bigger swamp.
306
Actually, the Russian oligarchs is a much more recent story, with almost as much relevance.
2
Good historical analogy to Robber Barons -
Another recent example is Sect. Interior Zinke and the Whitefish $300 million contract in Puerto Rico.
The Robber Baron precedent for that is the Teapot Dome scandal.
1
Plus Azar is a Persian Iranian name that means "star". There is no indication of Mr. $tar's ethnicity nor faith nor national origin. Nor is there any evidence that he or his family came to America legally. Nor when, where and why they came.
We need some of that old time Gitmo style extreme vetting to get to the bottom of this Big Pharma weasel before handing him the keys to American Health and Human services chicken coop including all of us American chickens.
1
"... a star for better health care and lower drug prices"? For whom? What we'll see is higher drug-company stock prices, which translates to more affordable health care and drugs, for shareholders. This is actually what they mean by "an ownership society." The owners are the only ones who matter.
132
For Trump and the GOP congress. They'll get free samples of Cialis in an unlimited supply...
... along with the usual bribe money.
Drug prices are in line with how necessary the medication is. If you have the potential of death not taking your medicine, the price is extremely inflated. If you can take as needed for a discomfort or whatever, the price is pocket affordable for all folks. If a drug is pocket affordable for those without insurance it will certainly be inflated 5-6 times the actual cost. I pay $6 for a one-month prescription out of pocket. If I use my insurance that same exact drug, dosage, quantity, carries a co-pay four times higher than uninsured. Somehow, defining it as price gouging seems fitting and unfair.
Fox.
Hen house.
"As the secretary of health and human services, Mr. Azar would be a key player in implementing Mr. Trump’s efforts to crack down on the prices that drug companies charge in the United States, making him responsible for going after the industry that he helped lead for a decade.
My confidence isn't very high on this one.
222
The nomination of a Pharmaceutical CEO to lead the way in cracking down on drug prices is like expecting a leopard to change it's spots to stripes..or am I missing something?
109
Yes, you're missing your wallet, Codie.
Grand Old Pickpockets 2017
Nice GOPeople
3
Trump did say a while ago that he planned to focus on drug prices. He just didn't say - until now - that he plans to drive them through the roof.
168
The hostile financial takeover of OUR United States Government continues and will continue until WE THE PEOPLE demand that The Con Don and his Robber Baron brethren be ousted from OUR governments at every level.
The Con Don is part of a world-wide plan to take over governments around the world. If you don't believe it - or if you do - read this article in Bloomberg News online from yesterday. Substitute the Koch brothers and The United States of America for South Africa and the family named and you will have a clear picture of what is happening in OUR country and around the world today.
WE THE PEOPLE - average people in America and around the world - are the only ones who can/will stop them and NOW is the time.
Before they can cause a worldwide global financial meltdown and destroy all of us with their deranged insatiable greed.
139
Here is the link to the article I mentioned:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-11-09/the-brothers-who-boug...
8
How?