Adviser's note: Emma Bunyea wrote this letter for a public policy assignment in U.S. History/Gov2 class. The letter was recently mailed to U.S. Represenative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY.
The Honorable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rayburn House Office Building
Independence Avenue SW Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
February 22, 2021
Dear Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
I am a junior at Poland Regional High School, and as a young woman I look up to you. I feel as though the issue I’d like to address should be addressed to you because during my research I stumbled upon an article claiming that your questioning of Big Pharma and their profits drove a man to tears. Iconic! Upon further investigation, I found that you have repeatedly questioned why Big Pharma is allowed to profit off of life-saving drugs. And to that I support you. My sister from a young age has been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, she relies on insulin to live. Insulin has more than tripled in cost for average consumers over the last ten years. My family has managed to be OK. But that is not true for everyone. It is a scary thing. I don’t ever want my sister to be in a situation where she can’t afford the things her body needs to survive. So here I am, reaching out to you. The American people won’t survive unless our federal and state governments stop Big Pharma from profiting off of those in need.
Before there was any government oversight, pharmaceutical companies were trying to take advantage of people who didn’t know any better. They began selling cocaine and heroin as what they called “super drugs”. These drugs were prescribed for anything from a headache to someone dealing with schizophrenia. All the while the ones selling the drugs knew they were highly addictive and sold them nonetheless to make a profit. Fast forward to 1996, Purdue Pharma begins marketing OxyContin. A highly addictive opioid. Purdue Pharma hired people who were not medical doctors to promote their wondrous drug, they never warned people about its danger. And then, unsurprisingly, people got incredibly addicted. They began to use heroin when they were cut off from the precious drug. According to the CDC, from 1999 to 2018, more than 750, 000 people died from a drug overdose. Two out of three of those deaths involved opioid-like prescription opioids, heroin, or synthetic opioids. These drugs were being prescribed to people who didn’t need them. And it caused so many innocent lives to be lost.
Jama Network collected data from 2000 to 2018 from 35 large pharmaceutical companies. The data found that over those years the companies had accumulated $11.5 trillion in total revenue. With a gross profit of $8.6 trillion. With such a large profit, you’d think that large pharmaceutical companies could cut American families a break so that they can afford necessities so their child with a serious condition has some chance of living past the age of ten. In a Gallup poll in 2019, Big Pharma had the lowest net rating overall out of all other industries. According to the poll, the average consumer would dislike the industry as a whole. An industry that large and important to the average consumer, you’d think, would be willing to listen to the average consumer. `
As the Covid-19 vaccine rolls out, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, please do not be tricked. These companies are profiteers, not heroes. They are and will continue to profit off of this pandemic. Very scary to think of how Big Pharma has dealt with monopolizing life-saving drugs. It is truly terrifying as an average consumer myself, to know that people who are supposed to be for us are really going to be taking advantage of a situation in which we are all victims. Some people, like Representative Chip Roy, believe that big Pharma deserves every cent they make for the good they do for people’s lives. He himself suffered from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer in the blood. He said that he was treated with Brentuximab Vedotin. According to the American Journal of Managed Care, Brentuximab Vedotin costs an average of $100,000-$120,000 depending on the amount of dosage needed. To this, I would like to point out that Representative Chip Roy, found in the Encyclopedia of American Politics, has an average net worth of about $1.3 million. I don’t think it is a stretch to say that this man can afford to spend a hundred thousand dollars on cancer treatments. The average consumer can not afford that. So I have to disagree, quite strongly. Big Pharma does not deserve to prey on weak people. Big Pharma should not be able to make healthcare a luxury. Health, good health should not be a luxury. The fact is that it is a basic necessity. The federal government should not continue to allow this to continue. But then I wonder if maybe the people backing Big Pharma are possibly benefitting from it.
Thank you for your time. I encourage you to keep fighting for the people. To go on inspiring people like me. To inspire people like me who want to do good and create change. To make everyday people’s lives better. In any way that a high school student in Poland, Maine can.
Sincerely,
Emma Bunyea
Poland Regional High School
1457 Maine Street
Poland, Maine 04257