Bernie Sanders bulldozes HHS Secretary Alex Azar over dangerously high drug prices

Bernie Sanders on drug prices.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Dan Diamond)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) skewered the Trump administration for not doing enough to lower drug prices during a heated exchange with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday. "My guess would be that if we get letters — and I'm sure every senator does — from people who are struggling with cancer, among other life threatening diseases, and they can't afford the medicine, I would guess that thousands of people die each year," Sanders said during a congressional hearing. "Do you think that's something you might want to look at?"

Azar replied that such a study would not "change our commitment to fix this issue."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.