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Drug Industry Battles to Aid Itself at Our Expense

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Regarding “Drug Firms Try to Fool Voters,” Golden State, Aug. 25:

Already we are seeing the blitzkrieg of TV commercials by the pharmaceutical industry giants touting Proposition 78.

These ads, powered by the $60-million war chest, are intended to defeat the consumer groups’ Proposition 79, which, as columnist Michael Hiltzik shows, would force the drug industry to provide discounts to millions of Californians.

This is the same drug industry powerhouse that lobbied Congress into protecting its profits in the recent Medicare legislation.

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Consumers received very little from the new law, but the drug industry quietly prohibited the government from negotiating discounts on behalf of consumers. Therefore, we continue to pay far more for medicines than citizens of foreign countries.

Let’s hope that Californians will be enlightened by the press to the deceptive tactics of the drug industry campaign.

Robert Feinstein

Attorney

West Hills

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