Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted President Obama’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, saying Robert Califf isn’t the person the agency needs to “stand up” to drug companies.
“I believe we need a commissioner who will stand up to the pharmaceutical industry and stick up for consumers, and I have to say with regret I believe you are not that person,” Sanders, I-Vt., told Califf at a Senate confirmation hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Sanders, who has made high drug prices a major feature of his campaign, drilled Califf on whether he would support allowing Americans to buy drugs from companies located in other industrialized countries. Americans pay more for drugs than in any other developed country, he noted.
“This is why the American people are paying by far the highest prices,” Sanders said. “It’s beyond my comprehension [that] we cannot bring in brand name drugs.”
While saying he’s “not an expert” on high drug prices, Califf said “we have concerns” about allowing drugs to be imported into the U.S.
Sanders also questioned Califf on whether he would support allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of Part D prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies, a policy both he and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton are supporting. In response, Califf noted that the Obama administration supports allowing negotiation in some circumstances, but didn’t state his personal opinion.
Califf’s responses, according to Sanders, show he won’t be the “aggressive” FDA commissioner the agency needs.
“At the end of the day, people are dying, people are not buying the food they need because they have to pay outrageous prices for medicine because we have been extraordinarily weak in taking on the pharmaceutical industry,” Sanders said.
