The prices of prescription medications harm Utah families like mine

In 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many other Utahs who have faced this disease, it was terrified.

I was lucky to receive incredible attention from the Huntsman Cancer Institute and, after years of treatment, I am now in remission. But there was a moment in my battle against cancer that will remain with me forever: at the time I learned that the medicine that my doctors prescribed to save my life, Verzenio, would cost $ 20,000 per month.

I remember thinking, how can you Anyone you allow this? The truth is that most people can’t. If it were not for the incredible support I received from Huntsman, which helped to facilitate a conversation with the manufacturer to reduce the cost of medicine, I do not know how I could have access to the attention I needed. And I am one of the lucky ones. Thousands of Utahs (retirees, veterans, owners of small businesses and rural families) do not have such support. They are forced to make impossible decisions between paying their medications and covering basic needs such as rent, groceries and gas.

It is not just about cancer treatment: it is insulin, heart medications and medications to save life in which everyday utaes. The prices of prescription drugs are triggered, not due to necessity, but because pharmaceutical companies have made the calculated decision of charge significantly more Americans than patients in other countries. In Canada, exactly the same medications to save lives cost a fraction of what they do in US patients in Europe, Australia and Mexico pay much less for the essential recipes than us. Why should American families have some of the highest costs in the world While pharmaceutical manufacturers give other nations a better treatment?

In the Utah communities, I listen to families that fight under the weight of the growing costs. Inflation has already increased the price of Housing, food and transport. When adding the prices of scandalous prescription drugs, financial tension becomes unbearable. People should not have to decide whether they will take the medication they need to stay alive or put food on the table for their families. And yet that is the reality for millions of Americans, including so many in our state.

Big Pharma continues to take advantage of record profits, while everyday Americans suffer. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are filling their wallets, while rural families and retirees are squeezed by a system designed to benefit shareholders, not patients. Enough is enough.

It is time for our Congress leaders, such as Senator John Curtis and Senator Mike Lee, to take real measures. They must defend the legislation that is surrendered in the power setting power without control of pharmaceutical companies and provides relief to Utah families. The American people, including 89% of RepublicansRecognize that Big Pharma’s price increases are an important factor in the current health affordability crisis. We need policies that prevent these companies from exploiting families and forcing them to justify their scandalous costs.

This is not a partisan problem. It is a matter of survival. We have seen what happens when medicines prices are not controlled. We have seen the financial devastation that causes. We have seen the lives that are lost because people simply could not pay their medications. And we know that Congress has the power to change this.

As a cancer survivor, I understand firsthand what it means to fight for your life. But nobody should have to fight just to pay the medication they need. It is time for our leaders in Washington to defend Utah families, challenge the greed of Big Pharma and make prescription medications affordable for all. Utahns deserves something better.

Tonja Hanson He is the president of the Summit County Council and a fifth generation resident of Summit County, where his family has operated a cattle ranch in the Coalville area in the Chalk Creek area.

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