A couple of weeks ago I attended the annual conference of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), a business organization that PharmacyChecker joined this past year. Basically, ASBC members believe that business is not just about making money and profits, but helping make the world a better place. I know it sounds sappy, but they mean it and I respect it. ASBC seeks to engage in public policy to ensure that all workers earn a livable wage; kids get a proper education; businesses are prevented from polluting the environment and exacerbating climate change; and that Americans have access to an affordable and viable healthcare system – and that means affordable drug prices.
ASBC launched an initiative called Business Leaders Transforming Healthcare, of which PharmacyChecker.com is party to. At the conference, members of that group met during breakfast to discuss proposals at the federal and state levels aimed at improving health insurance for Americans. I was asked to talk about the problem of high drug prices and the value of importation and online pharmacies. This includes the advocacy work I do through Prescription Justice, the non-profit organization I started in 2015.
PharmacyChecker is a company dedicated to a better America – and I believe the ASBC is heading in the right direction. It offers a counterpoint to the Chamber of Commerce, which, at the national level, is—you got it—Big Pharma all the way.
For some fun context: the founding member of Business Leaders Transforming Healthcare, Richard Master, CEO or MCS Industries, produced a movie called Big Pharma – Market Failure, which calls out the pharmaceutical industry on drug prices. In that film, Mr. Master shares that 33% of his company’s healthcare expenditure is on pharmaceuticals: $600,000/year. That figure absolutely hurts the bottom line. Mr. Masters believes “Pharma is a threat to the U.S. economy.”
I look forward to working with ASBC and following its efforts over the coming year.
