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The Biden administration on Thursday asserted its authority to seize the patents of certain costly medications in a new push to slash high drug prices and promote more pharmaceutical competition.
The administration unveiled a framework outlining the factors federal agencies should consider in deciding whether to use a controversial policy, known as march-in rights, to break the patents of drugs that were developed with federal funds but are not widely accessible to the public. For the first time, officials can now factor in a medication’s price — a change that could have big implications for drugmakers depending on how the government uses the powers.
“When drug companies won’t sell taxpayer-funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less,” White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said during a call with reporters Wednesday.
I’m probably going to get downvoted for this, but the Biden administration has really exceeded my expectations.
They do great work, but they don’t market and promote their successes well enough. I would prefer a society that favors humility more and therefore appreciate this administration’s style, but it seems that a lack of hubris is now considered a fault in the public eye, on both sides of the aisle.
I think that’s more the media’s fault than the administration’s.
American citizens slammed with lower drug and education costs
–there, now the media can run with it lol
SLAM! As an American I demand more slams! Slam everything! Slam Trump! Slam Biden! Slam medicare! Slam insurance policies! Slam portmanteaus! Slam Bidenomics! Slam Obama care!
SLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!
…and welcome to the jam.
Pump it up
Good news doesn’t get views.
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A big part of the problem is that so much of this is “basic human decency”
Like… people who commit violent insurrection are going to jail. That should not be a news story.
And the EV rebates and improved infrastructure were part of the big IRA (hee hee) bill that did get a lot of eyes. But stuff like futzing with patents actually will piss off a lot of voters who think they are one good day away from being the head of a pharmaceuticals empire (and then they can tell their manager at the Dairy Queen to suck it).
And then you have the problem of the base. Most of the Biden Admin threads inevitably include someone complaining that they haven’t fixed student loan debt yet (although, a lot of progress was made on that like yesterday?). Because Democrats actually want things. I want a better social safety net and UBI experiments before it is too late (spoiler: it already is). Maybe you want all student loan debt to be erased. Jill over there wants… basic human rights (okay, I want that too).
But every time there is a win in one category, it just makes people angry THEY didn’t get the win and we start getting the “Biden needs to earn my vote” stupidity.
No, I feel the same way. It’s just that they’ve also utterly sucked in some areas too. Regardless, you know I’m hella voting for him because wtf else am I gonna do? There’s no choice in our political system so I’ll do what I need to.
It really annoys me when they Biden has done nothing.
Then they’re all, “well I didn’t hear about it”
I get that the media and even the Dems suck at showing people what they’ve accomplished, but that doesn’t mean they’ve done nothing.
It’s that usual right-wing thing, where their opponent is simultaneously an idiot who does nothing, and also a scheming mastermind who’s responsible for all the trouble in the world depending on which way the wind’s blowing.
This isn’t an action. This is words. Words are wind.
🤡
No disagreements here. I am kind of shocked by this very non neolib behavior—the above as well as well as being the first sitting president to join the UAW picket line. I was a bit miffed about the train strike, though. But his administration lobbied the companies and got them their sick days they’ve been fighting for, for ages. Really didn’t expect any of that.
Non neolib? Introducing competition rather than seizing and making them public is about as neolib as you can get.
So by letting a company keep their monopoly due to federally subsidized patent thus harming citizens but helping the company is… less neolib?
Whatever it is, it seems shittier than making a move to fuck a company – if it results in reduced drug prices anyway.
Where did I say they should be allowed to keep their monopoly?
Yes. Monopolization is one of the many externalities that government exists to address within a neoliberal framework
Neoliberalism is a good thing, actually.
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
It’s only controversial if your only understanding of economic orthodoxy is Breadtube or some shit lol
Yeah he wasn’t my first choice but I was fine voting for him and his administration has definitely beat expectations. Pretty nice what having capable people in your administration can do for your presidency. Not just scandal after scandal and departure after departure like the previous shitshow.
I wish media would give credit to the organization leaders responsible for these types of moves rather than crediting a homogeneous “Biden administration.” The fact is that the administration does deserve credit for employing a number of “progressive” (read: competent) administrators, but those departments compose a progressive wing of the administration that is not on par with some of the overall administration’s more centrist leanings.
-- Cory Doctorow
You know, I never really thought about this, you make a good point.
Also, I notice so many people mentioning Cory Doctorow lately, what’s up with that? His oddly spelled lay name is even in my phone’s autocorrect! All small hints of a certain fascination with him.
Every time there’s a bunch of commenters talking about how little they like Biden (or his administration) for ‘not doing enough’, I know:
How do I know they don’t vote? Because they are too lazy to even be up to date via Google on the political opinions they post - they certainly aren’t going to bother to actually leave their house and vote.
That said, the Biden administration might do well to be more bombastic with their statements about their successes. I don’t love the idea that the merit of a success would need to be ‘sold’, but you have the GOP screaming idiot things all over the media sphere every single day, and that has to be competed with.
The only point of disagreement I have is that it’s been demonstrated that the Internet doesn’t promote echo chambers, it does quite the opposite in fact.
The problem it introduces is that people are constantly exposed against their will to opposing viewpoints curated to make them as angry as possible.
This results in them becoming explosively volatile towards those opposing viewpoints even in moderated or even well justified forms because they have learned to associate any opposing opinions with the algorithm selected ultra aggro version they just had a knock down drag out hundred comment chain argument with someone a day ago.
IRL you just disregard the fucker and move on, the internet is teaching people to see everyone who disagrees with you as that fucker laying in wait to instigate yet another knock down drag out argument where you feel like you’re losing your mind talking to a wall that insists the sky is orange and that climate policy is communism because soylent green burgers or whatever.
Then there’s the additional problem of when a significant portion of the people trying to sound reasonable on the internet turn out to actually be that fucker out to instigate because they want to make you look crazy for how mad you get at their bullshit while they calmly explain that “it isn’t unreasonable to expect a politician to earn your vote!”
It’s rhetorical strategies within rhetorical strategies all designed to keep you under a constant feeling of being attacked.
It’s also possible they are not legally allowed to vote in the US for one or another reason…
Amen to that. It’s a shame the left doesn’t have a shameless media ecosystem that can produce a 24/7 cacophony of propaganda to amplify this kind of stuff.
I’m not sure brainwashing is the right way to go here idk 🤔
I’m pretty sure there’s a significant difference between marketing and brainwashing. And I’m also pretty sure you already knew that.
We don’t need a Fox “news” equivalent for Democrats that pumps out propaganda (your term used above) and traps Democrats into an echo chamber.
I mean we already have some fairly biased left leaning news outlets. Nothing like Fox or OANN or Breitbart.
Still, I would like to get rid of heavily biased propaganda outlets because – yes – they basically brainwash their listers with various techniques.
Good for you, living in that fantasy land. Let me know how it works out for you in 50 years.
Meanwhile, on Earth, I’ll continue to believe that there are tools at our disposal, and that we should use them.
They do, it’s just that that ecosystem is owned by the same vested interests and so it churns a cacaphony of criticism aimed at making the left feel no accomplishment is good enough and no effort is far enough.
Ain’t that the damned truth.
Democrats are not left.
That’s what I keep saying. Despite the bar being extremely low due to the previous administration and the whole “nothing fundamentally will change” my expectations have definitely been exceeded
I slightly agree. But more that nothing has been done yet aside from clarifying vague wording in legislation.
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Wake me up when any of this shit is actually implemented.
This is already something though. It’s a legal threat.
We will only see patents actually be seized if the drug companies don’t play ball. They’ll have to choose whether to cooperate or to challenge this in the courts. The govdrnment isn’t trying to seize patents anymore than banks are hoping to repossess property.
I’ll give credit when things have changed a single smidge.
You, right now.
I’ve seen this again and again with younger people in particular (though I’ve also seen the occasional boomer behave similarly). It’s like people have no concept of how long things can take in the real world sometimes.
Yes it seems like most of these actions are symbolic gestures that never pan out into actual change. Like asking for marijuana to be ‘studied’ to see if it belongs as Schedule 1 with no medical value while 38 states have approved it for medical use and 24 states have legalized it for recreational use. What the fuck is left to study at this point?
Another example is him pardoning people with federal marijuana possession convictions even though nobody was actually incarcerated for simple possession in the federal prison system.
Seems this shit is all about generating headlines and political brownie points not actually improving anything in our day to day lives.
Pardons aren’t just about not being in prison.
From, interestingly enough, the DOJ site about this very topic.
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession
Personally I like that fewer lives are ruined due to stupid laws.
Those lives have already been ruined. Coming back years later and saying “we messed up” doesn’t give these people that time back.
Those stupid laws still exist (as outlined in my second example) and are still used against people today, including seizing their property and refusing to give it back without spending years in costly litigation, all without a single crime having been committed. You’re highlighting exactly what’s missing here: actual change. He wants the headlines inferring that he’s actually taking progressive action without having to actually change anything for the better.
You get it. I wish the rest of these Lemmys did, too.
What a stupid comment to make. Unless this is your first day, Lemmy isoverwhelmingy in support of the biden administration, which is fine of course, but if you just scope around, its the most obvious prevailing opinion. Anytime trump is praised, which is rare, they’re down voted and reported and fucking removed.
This is as stupid as saying :
“Gonna get down voted for this but I think murder is bad”
In my experience, Lemmy is usually far enough left that they say Biden is basically a Republican. There’s absolutely a ton of “both sides bad” bullshit on Lemmy.
Yeah and you don’t even see the tankie instances on your instance. These people think liberals are the devil
I guess you missed a lot of the “conversations” I’ve seen then lol. That’s good. Frequent stress isn’t good for the blood pressure.