By Faith Gonia
In mid March, AstraZeneca announced that they would cap prices for inhalers at thirty-five dollars starting June 1, 2024. Following the British-Swedish Pharmaceutical company’s announcement, President Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders held a meeting in support of those who advocated for the cap: primarily, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).
According to Pascal Sariot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, the pharma giant aimed to address “barriers to access and affordability for patients living with respiratory diseases to ultimately help patients lead healthier lives.”
In early April, Biden and Sanders recognized the AAFA at the White House for their influential work in promoting equity in the receival of healthcare. Kenneth Mendez, AAFA’s president and CEO, encouraged further work in decreasing costs, stating, “We urge policymakers to take additional steps to lower costs, including through the Medicaid program and through policy reform to address the complex drug pricing ecosystem.”
Since the start of the pharmaceutical industry, the concept of Big Pharma—powerful pharmaceutical companies who place a disproportionately large focus on profits over ethics—has slowly grown. Just in 2019, Massachusetts sued the owners of Purdue Pharma; after the company marketed a highly addictive opioid under false claims of being non-addictive. Their overarching goal? Money, no matter how immorally it was earned.
For decades, countless consumers have fallen victim to soaring medical prices due to unreasonably high costs of necessary medical purchases. Thus, AstraZeneca’s announcement makes huge strides for those who rely on inhalers.