Big Pharma Not for the Consumer, Never Has Been

It’s time for a reckoning. For too long, Big Pharma has been living off taxpayer-backed innovation while charging Americans sky-high prices that would make a gold refinery blush. These so-called "innovators" rake in billions, inflate costs for life-saving drugs, and line beltway lobbyists’ pockets — all while families choose between medicine and rent.

Consider this: new drugs developed with taxpayer-funded NIH research now hit the market at an average launch price of $111,000, climbing as high as $1.9 million per course — an outrageous double charge on taxpayers.

Meanwhile, 58% of Americans view the industry negatively — understandably so, as brand-name drugs account for just 10% of prescriptions but gobble up 75% of total spending.

The right complains about unchecked government, yet most people don’t grasp that 41% of what Americans pay for drugs is consumed by middlemen and corporate overhead — not research.

Meanwhile, as costs spiral, Big Pharma throws tantrums if we dare impose fair prices or allow competition.

We can’t fix this by papering over transparency issues: rebate secrecy and pharmaceutical lobbying must end. It’s time for "most-favored-nation" pricing — tying U.S. drug prices to what other wealthy countries pay — for the American people’s benefit.

That’s how we beat global freeloaders and make medicines affordable again.

Opponents argue high prices fund innovation.

But the public is not buying it.

A Cato-backed report shows 87% of new drugs debut in America first, not because of higher prices, but due to regulatory structure and market access.

That means outrageous prices aren't boosting innovation—they’re lining pockets.

The truth is raw economy: $600 billion spent annually, with 1 in 4 Americans struggling to afford their meds — medicine isn’t working; it's starving families. Taxpayers deserve a return on their investment, not a ransom.

Big Pharma should fear freedom, transparency, and our market—not regulation for its own sake, but fair exchange. We demand pricing reform, honest rebates, enforced competition, and accountability.

Medicine shouldn’t be a privilege — it’s a right.

Let’s tear off the cartel’s mask and hold them to account. Because when pharma’s price-heavy hand squeezes our wallets and our health, America needs to fight back — and win.

Bianca Gracia is president of the Latinos for Trump/Latinos for America First Organization, Founder and Executive Director of Latinos for America First PAC. She has worked as the chief strategist at The America Project, Hispanic Engagement Director of the Republican Party of Texas, and the State Director of Faith and Freedom Coalition. She's the former President of Líderes de la Comunidad, Americanos Conservative United, director and adviser for Blexit Texas. Ms. Gracia has appeared on Fox, Steve Bannon's "War Room," Newsmax, OANN, and can be heard live Monday mornings at 8 a.m. on 1440 Keys AM in Corpus Christi, Texas. Read more of her reports — ​ Here.