“DOSE OF REALITY” Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part IV

In advance of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing on February 26, 2019, the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) is releasing a blog series on what lawmakers can expect to hear from the seven pharma executives who will attend — and why their rhetoric rings hollow when measured against their companies’ track record.

We’re taking a look at the unkept pledges, proclamations and promises made by Big Pharma that lawmakers should be prepared to confront with a “dose of reality.”

Yesterday, we examined the record of Bristol-Myers Squibb compared to the guarantees of CEO Giovanni Caforio.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky had been invited, but instead will be sending the company’s Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals Jennifer Taubert in his place.  In the spirit of holding Pharma CEOs accountable, today we will look at the rhetoric of Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky compared to his company’s track record.

JOHNSON & JOHNSON CEO ALEX GORSKY:

Alex’s Assurances:

• “We Believe Our First Responsibility Is To The Patients, Doctors And Nurses, To Mothers And Fathers And All Others Who Use Our Products And Services.  In Meeting Their Needs Everything We Do Must Be Of High Quality.  We Must Constantly Strive To Provide Value, Reduce Our Costs And Maintain Reasonable Prices.” (“Our Credo,” Johnson & Johnson, Accessed 1/19/18)

• “We Are Responsible To The Communities In Which We Live And Work And To The World Community As Well.  We Must Help People Be Healthier By Supporting Better Access And Care In More Places Around The World.” (“Our Credo,” Johnson & Johnson, Accessed 1/19/18)

• “If We Don’t [Price Drugs Reasonably And Be Transparent] As An Industry, I Think There Will Be Other Alternatives That Will Be More Onerous For Us.” “As politicians hammer drug prices, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky suggested companies need to police themselves. At the conference, Mr. Gorsky told investors that drug companies should price drugs reasonably and be transparent.  ‘If we don’t do this as an industry, I think there will be other alternatives that will be more onerous for us,’ Mr. Gorsky says.  Some drugmakers pulled back from price increases in mid-2018 amid heightened political scrutiny, but prices went up for many drugs at the start of 2019.” (Peter Loftus & Anna Wilde Mathews, “Health-Care CEOs Outline Strategies At J.P. Morgan Conference,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/9/19)

HARD MEDICINE:

• Since 2012, Johnson & Johnson Has Raised The Price Of Best Selling Drug Xarelto, A Drug Used To Treat Blood Clots, By 87 Percent. (“Overpatented, Overpriced: How Excessive Pharmaceutical Patenting Is Extending Monopolies And Driving Up Drug Prices,” I-MAK, 8/2/18)

• In January 2019, “Johnson & Johnson Raised U.S. Prices On Around Two Dozen Prescription Drug,” With Most Of The Increases “Between 6 Percent And 7 Percent.” (Michael Erman, “J&J Raises U.S. Prices On Around Two Dozen Drugs,” Reuters, 1/10/19)

• In 2018, Janssen, A Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Subsidiary And Its Partner, Backed Away From Plans To Triple The Cost Of A Blood Cancer Drug Only After Significant Reproach From Oncologists.(Carolyn Y. Johnson, “Science Hinted That Cancer Patients Could Take Less Of A $148,000-A-Year Drug. Its Maker Tripled The Price Of A Pill.,” The Washington Post, 4/18/18)

Stay tuned for our next blog tomorrow comparing another pharma CEO’s rhetoric to the reality.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part I.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part II.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part III.