Trump ’ s New Man at HHS

By STEVE FINDLAY President Trump’s nominee to be the next HHS Secretary—Alex Azar—has a sparkling resume and by most accounts is a practical, accomplished and solid choice to lead the agency and the federal government’s health programs for at least the next 3 years. He served as HHS Deputy Secretary under George W. Bush. But the choice is yet another by the Trump administration that puts industry leaders in charge of public policy and programs.   And in this case that could matter as much as the appointment of Scott Pruitt to head the EPA—although I do not equate the two personally since Pruitt is a severe partisan with a disdain for the federal government while Azar apparently acquitted himself well while serving at HHS under Bush. The problem is Azar spent most of the last 10 years at pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and was president of Lilly’s U.S. affiliate before leaving that post in January. He also served on the board of the biopharmaceutical industry trade group BIO. Potentially most troubling, Azar worked at Lilly when it was accused of colluding with other drug companies to set high prices for insulin over years. Class action suits and probes of insulin pricing by attorneys general in multiple states remain underway. “Eli Lilly is one-third of an insulin cartel that has driven up prices by more than 300 percent,” said a statement by the consumer advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs (P4AD). (patientsforaffordabledrugs.org) Axios’ Bob Herma...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Eli Lilly Source Type: blogs