Perspectives: Cheers And Jeers For Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema

Arizona Capitol Times: Prescription Drug Solutions Overdue, Sinema And Kelly Must Act 
During my time as an elected official in Arizona, I have heard anecdotes about impossible decisions families are forced to make due to out-of-control prescription drug costs. Horrible choices like deciding to buy critical medications or paying the rent, buying groceries, or paying the utility bill. This is a choice no one living in a country as prosperous as American should ever have to make.   Here in the Arizona Senate, Democrats have worked to come up with solutions to give relief to patients. But our families, seniors and small businesses — struggling under the cost of medications — also need significant solutions that can only be delivered at the federal level. This is why we need our representatives in Congress, particularly Sens. Krysten Sinema and Mark Kelly, to stand up to the powerful influence of pharmaceutical companies and pass reforms that will tackle the crisis of prescription drug affordability and give Arizonans much need help. (State Sen. Lela Alston, 10/4)

The New York Times: What’s Wrong With Kyrsten Sinema? 
“We need to make health care more affordable, lower prescription drug prices, and fix the problems in the system — not go back to letting insurance companies call all the shots,” she tweeted in 2018. Yet [Kyrsten] Sinema reportedly objects to the Democrats’ plan to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare recipients and even opposes a scaled-back version of the policy put forward by some House moderates. She voted against the Trump tax cuts in the House but now seems to oppose undoing any of them. According to The New York Times, she’s “privately told colleagues she will not accept any corporate or income tax rate increases.” (Michelle Goldberg, 10/4)

Also —

Delaware Online: Delawareans Demand Lower Prescription Drug Costs
Across Delaware and our nation, families and seniors are feeling the impact of prescription drug prices. As Lieutenant Governor and as a nurse, families have shared their struggles in being able to pay for medications to manage chronic diseases and/or prevent serious illnesses. Too often they face difficult decisions that compromises their health because they are forced to ration drugs, skip meals or forego payment of bills in order to afford their prescription drugs and insurance coverage. This is wrong and it must stop. (Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, 9/29)

Statesman Journal: Government Should Lower Prescription Drug Costs
Zuri, a college student, had to go into surgery. Afterward, he was prescribed medication to help with his recovery. Zuri had to pay more than $200 out of pocket for a short supply even after his insurance covered some of the cost. For a student on limited income, that amounted to a significant financial burden. And as Zuri put it, “I know I’m not the only person that’s had to experience this.” He’s right. More than 150 million Americans, including more than 2.2 million Oregonians, are insured through employers and the commercial market. Most insured consumers, however, still face high health care costs from prescription medication. (Maribeth Guarino, 10/1)

And opioids are in the spotlight —

The Wall Street Journal: Even Walmart Deserves A Trial 
Pharmacies are and should certainly be responsible when they mess up. Say Dr. Jones prescribes rosuvastatin (a cholesterol reducer) to Mary, but the pharmacist reaches for the wrong jar and instead dispenses Valium (a benzodiazepine). Valium and alcohol have synergistic effects, so if Mary goes to a bar, she may forget how many drinks she’s had and how many pills she’s taken. If she overdoses, has respiratory failure and dies, the pharmacy must pay. Or imagine that John, a high-school freshman, impersonates Dr. Jones, calls in a prescription for pain reliever Vicodin (a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone), and gives his own phone number as a callback for confirmation. The staff pharmacist fails to check in the physician directory, and fills the prescription. John’s liver fails. The pharmacy must pay. (Michael I. Krauss, 10/1)

The Virginian-Pilot: Veterans Pay The Price Of Bungled Opioid Policies 
For more than a decade, policymakers and public health officials have incorrectly blamed the worsening overdose crisis on doctors prescribing opioids to their patients in pain. During this time physicians have been pressured to reduce opioid prescribing, only to see the overdose rate more than double since 2010 — even as opioid prescribing was cut nearly in half. In early August, a study showed that tapering chronic pain patients off opioids led to a dramatic increase in mental health crises, suicide attempts and overdoses. It is not surprising, then, that we now learn this anti-opioid policy has had a devastating effect on America’s veterans. (Jeffrey A. Singer and Josh Bloom, 10/2)