1. Alienated Leaders – Plan would upset key democratic leaders – ruins unity.
Diamond ’24 (Dan, “Democrats ramp up patent fight with drug industry in bid to lower prices,” June 7, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/07/drug-prices-patents-democrats-congress/)
Two prominent congressional Democrats this week wrote to eight pharmaceutical company CEOs, urging them to remove 130 patents from a government registry.
Democrats have hit on a new tactic in their long battle with drug companies: challenge patents that they say are deliberate attempts to game the system and box out low-cost, generic competitors.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) this week wrote to eight pharmaceutical company CEOs, urging them to remove 130 patents from a key federal registry, according to letters shared with The Washington Post. The Democrats are targeting Novo Nordisk, including some of its patents related to expensive drug Ozempic; GlaxoSmithKline; and other companies that produce asthma and diabetes medications.