FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org
Contact: Barb Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org
(St. Paul) – April 4, 2019 – Attorney General Keith Ellison has appointed the Minnesota Nurses Association’s Executive Director, Rose Roach, to the task force charged with lowering the price of pharmaceutical drugs for Minnesota patients. Roach is one of 15 patient advocates who include leaders from medical providers, labor and industry, state legislators, and the executive director of the Board of Pharmacy.
“I am honored to be appointed by Attorney General Ellison and am confident we will be able to make recommendations that will improve the lives of Minnesotans when it comes to affording the medications they need,” Roach said.
The Task Force on Lowering Pharmaceutical Drug Prices will study the reasons for skyrocketing prescription prices, the regulatory role of state and federal governments in controlling prescription costs, strategies that have been implemented elsewhere, and recommend ways to reduce drug prices.
Attorney General Ellison said that the team will gather the best thinking to analyze causes of drug price increases, and the task force will look at legislation and litigation to lower prices but not be limited to those strategies.
“Big Pharma is exploiting sick people who are just trying to survive,” Roach said. This is not only immoral; for nurses, it is a completely unacceptable business practice. Medication is part of healthcare and therefore cannot be treated like a commodity. It must be treated as a public good.”
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