The U.S. drug industry has sunk to a new low in the ratings of top industries and government, a sign that the public has had it with surging prices and the industry’s fumbling of the opioid epidemic.
The latest Gallup survey showed that Big Pharma’s negative rating is twice its positive rating.
Gallup said that the 27% positive rating was the drug industry’s worse ever, and put it dead last on the list of 25 “industries” it tests annually.
It came in below government and the media.
The restaurant industry topped the annual list with a 61% positive rating.
The pharmaceutical industry is now the industry most poorly regarded by Americans, with 58% rating it negatively. https://t.co/Hz6nJrVFgH pic.twitter.com/gPzxEqKiBo
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) September 3, 2019
Big Pharma has been battling horrible headlines in the opioid crisis and it has been fighting the Trump administration’s efforts to cut costs.
That has hurt its image, said Gallup.
“As the opioid epidemic rages on — and as the actors involved in creating it continue to experience lawsuits, protests and public shaming — it may be hard for the pharmaceutical industry to make a comeback just yet. The industry’s rating likely will not recover until its role in the opioid epidemic is addressed, and the political pressure on the industry for high prices and massive profits subsides,” said the poll analysis.
