December 17, 2019 Issue, Page 4 of 10

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Tuesday, December 17, 2019 Opinion Page Cult-like claims for Medicaid expansion “ElkCituNews By Jonathan Small The arguments made by closer at those reports, their conclusions appear more the people are already guaran- teed treatment for emergen- health outcomes based on income.” Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 supporters of Medicaid ex- result of wishful thinking cy care under federal law. Adelson concedes the pansion often have a quasi- than valid analysis. Medicaid won't save lives obvious: Medicaid doesn’t IP protections are key religious undertone straight For instance, the authors by providing treatment to change health outcomes. from the bowels of a really of the underlying NBER people who already receive to drug innovation His conclusion is validat- bad cult, not a serious policy working paper concede that that same treatment without ed by the results of a truly debate. The latest example is a limitation of their work is Medicaid. gold-standard experimental/ By Peter J. Pitts a report that stops just short “that our data do not include Demographic differences randomized controlled trial Cystic fibrosis patients just got some life-changing news. of suggesting Medicaid cov- information on the cause of among states are also ig- conducted in Oregon that ‘The FDA approved Trikafta, a breakthrough therapy for erage can raise the dead. death.” That’s a big caveat. nored. If people in another observed no significant ef- A report by the Center on Put simply, we don’t know state were already wealthier fects from Medicaid cover- the disease, which causes a life-threatening buildup of mu- Budget and Policy Priorities, what killed those 476 Okla- and healthier, on average, age on any collected health cus in the lungs and digestive tract. Before Trikafta, most a liberal think tank, recently homans, but that isn’t stop- than their Oklahoma coun- measures. patients didn’t have any treatment options. indicated 476 Oklahomans ping activists from claiming terparts before Medicaid ex- Next year, Oklahoma vot- More drug innovation is on the way. Right now, there are ages 55 to 64 who died from Medicaid would have kept pansion, then the continued ers will be asked to expand 1,120 cancer therapies, 132 Alzheimer’s drugs, and 200 2014 through 2017 would those folks alive. But people existence of that gap today is Medicaid to cover 628,000 still be alive today had the killed in car crashes or by not a sign Medicaid expan- treatments for heart disease and stroke in the works. able-bodied adults at a state state expanded Medicaid. gunfire would not be walk- sion improved outcomes. We have America’s strong intellectual property laws to That study was based over- ing among the living today if Notably, Tom Adelson, taxpayer cost of up $374 thank for these budding breakthroughs. Drug development million annually. That deci- whelmingly on data culled only they’d Medicaid cover- a former Oklahoma Secre- is risky. It takes more than a decade and $2.6 billion, on from another report on age. And there are many sad tary of Health who supports sion should be made based “Medicaid and mortality” instances where insurance Medicaid expansion, recent- on concrete facts, not the average, to bring one new drug to market. IP protections published by the National coverage does not prevent ly admitted in The Oklaho- “magical thinking” of pro- give investors a chance to recoup this capital so they can Bureau of Economic Re- death. man that even if our state ponents who imply Medic- continue developing new therapies. search. The NBER paper found expands Medicaid, “none of aid will somehow transform But now some American politicians are fighting for Those reports are being Medicaid increased hospital- us should be under the illu- the dead into the living. weaker IP laws. These lawmakers believe robust IP pro- used to silence Medicaid-ex- izations, including for “vis- sion that we will be altering Jonathan Small serves as pansion critics and tar them its for conditions that require the downward trajectory in president of the Oklahoma tections keep drug prices high. as indifferent to Oklaho- immediate care”—in other overall outcomes, includ- Council of Public Affairs They’re wrong. Gutting IP protections would be a mis- mans’ lives. But if you look words, emergency care. But ing growing differences in (www.ocpathink.org). take. Without them, research would come to a halt and pa- tients would suffer. Consider how few drugs make it to patients. Just over What does the evidence show? 10 percent of medicines that enter clinical trials ultimately by Wim Laven divided society, bifurcated faced, it would be like Nixon sions about Donald Trump’s win FDA approval. I learned many powerful by truth and fiction. turning over the tapes, but wrongdoing. The imminent Strong IP protections make this gamble worthwhile. lessons from my father. He Trump’s wholesale dis- defenders saying “you can- threat is ongoing, both in- was a dedicated pediatrician honesty has been absorbed not prove that is his voice,” side and outside of the White These laws grant drug makers a period of market exclusiv- and he spent his last years by the Republican party or “he didn’t really mean House. The truth is clear, ity so they can recover development costs and maybe even doing medical evaluations right-wing-faux-news what he said,” or “tapes are Trump is guilty of abusing and turn a profit. Those funds support future drug development. for suspected child abuse. with dangerous outcomes. hearsay...” Except, as scary the power of his office and Our IP laws have made the United States the world He was responsible for fo- Trump’s thousands of as it sounds, today’s Repub- also obstructing Congress leader in biopharmaceutical discovery. American labs are rensic analysis and, in some lies provide cover for his lican Senate would acquit in its Constitutional require- cases, evidence collection. crimes—cover that only Richard Nixon, they appear ment to oversee and balance responsible for more than half of all drugs in development Over lengthy conversations works for those seemingly fully committed to letting executive power. worldwide. I learned of a number of his averse to critical think- Donald Trump get away In the coming months stu- Moreover, our patients have unmatched access to the frustrations in this area, often ing. Some of his supporters with much worse. What will dents (and all Americans) newest therapies thanks to our robust IP standards. For due to cases of arrogance. clearly benefit through his I say to students then? will have to watch closely He said he only approached tax-giveaways to the rich, The understanding must instance, American patients have had access to nearly all and think critically for them- each distinct case with one others through contracts and come from the conditions selves. They will have to de- new cancer medicines launched since 2011. And cancer primary question: what does lax appointments. The hear- that have created this situ- cide what does the evidence death rates have declined by 27 percent since 1990 thanks the evidence show? ings make the distinction ation. The demographics show? They will have to to these therapies. Years after my father had between commitment to oth- are clear but incomplete: decide whether or not their But not every country values IP like we do. Some coun- passed away I continue to ers and commitment to self soul searching will not ex- representatives put their learn of the many lives he crystal clear. plain why 71 percent of country ahead of party—or tries cap what they’re willing to pay companies for drugs. impacted in positive ways. I have followed it all non-college-educated white vice-versa. This government price setting, which is common in Eu- His evaluations removed closely. I feel a deep sense men (who voted) voted for Those who see disloyalty rope, dramatically curbs drug development. children from danger and of responsibility to explain a person who bragged about to oaths will have to reclaim Patients are the biggest losers when it comes to price- sent abusive relatives to the current events to my stu- sexually assaulting women, the power of the people. But prison in some cases--and dents when they ask ques- no regard for the 25 women setting. we all have a responsibility sometimes it meant families tions, but current events defy who have accused Trump of In the short term, drug innovators hesitate to launch nov- to bridge the gap as well. would be reunited—children reason. Make no mistake, 17 sexual misconduct. It is the el drugs in markets dictated by government price setting. Russian troll farms and pur- were returned to their loving federal intelligence agencies story of two realities. In the veyors of conspiracy theo- That’s why price-setting nations like Ireland and the Czech parents. Being told, “your have concluded that Russia Trump-supporting narrative ries have made dupes out of Republic, respectively, have access to just 40 percent and father is the only reason we is behind the hacking, but Hillary Clinton is a criminal were able to keep our kids,”Trump now has the histori- who should be locked up, many Americans. There are 36 percent of medicines introduced since 2011. leaves a permanent imprint, cally “law and order” party despite years of investiga- also many more who feel And in the long term, price-setting depletes the funds “the prosecutors made their backing his subterfuge that tion and no findings of crim- hopeless or apathetic. Re- companies use to pursue new research and development minds up as soon as they Ukraine might have done inal wrongdoing. They say moving Trump from office saw our tattoos...” tells the it. Republicans: the party of impeachment is to overturn may or may not happen by projects. If that happens, today’s terminal diseases might story of a rush to judgment lawless disorder. a vote, but facts are not on an act from the Senate, but stay incurable. there is serious healing that that a commitment to truth House minority leader their side. Defending Trump Some in Congress want to weaken America’s IP stan- guarded against. Kevin McCarthy, who pre- is like denying global cli- needs to take place in our dards. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently released her Watching the hearings for viously said: “There’s two mate change. The evidence communities and _ institu- drug pricing reform package that adopts government price- the potential articles to re- people I think Putin pays: is in. The man cannot seem tions either way. It will all move Donald Trump from Rohrabacher and Trump;” to control his pathologies take place against the mor- setting measures and ties Medicare reimbursements to the prices paid in a handful of foreign nations. The Senate Fi- the office of the White House now defends: “In modern and his base, led by Fox al backdrop of a criminal see the most magnified ver- history, we’ve never gone News, dutifully drinks the President and the question nance Committee released a similar bill this summer. sion of what my father hat- after impeaching a president Kool Aid. of whether or not the people Such reforms would be as disastrous at home as they ed. The evidence presented in the first term.” I could Trump’s defense is all will affirm that no one is are abroad. Speaker Pelosi’s package alone is estimated to is not refuted; the patterns spend a whole class period criminal. He believes that above the law. cost drug manufactures $1 trillion over the next decade. of behavior, the events, the to try to explain such a flip- withholding evidence can The ultimate balance of words, the implications, etc. flop without ever getting to save him. His defenders power rests in the hands of That’s money that firms otherwise could’ve put towards the people. Donald Trump are all clear, but bluster and the absurdity of the defense. will claim that there is not new medicines. hot air are presented as a de- The Constitution clearly enough evidence, but Trump won the electoral college to Rather than weakening IP protections at home, lawmak- fense. More sickening is a does not give the President a ordered the obstruction of become President, but he ers should nurture America’s innovation ecosystem to im- look at the scale of the mal- free pass; Trump’s behavior the investigations at ev- was not elected as King, and prove treatment access for Americans and patients around feasance, and the number of is exactly what the founders ery step of the way. He has he is not above the law. people willing to betray truth wanted to be able to guard made every effort to pre- Wim Laven, Ph.D., syndi- the world. and justice for personal gain. against. vent evidence collection, but cated by PeaceVoice, teach- Peter J. Pitts, a former FDA Associate Commissioner, is The lies have consequences To compare the “defense” there are enough facts pres- es courses in political sci- president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. and they’ve promulgated a with what Richard Nixon ent to make serious conclu- ence and conflict resolution. Have something to share? Send your letter to [email protected]