President Trump has long highlighted Europe's drug market, arguing that Americans in comparison pay far too much for prescription drugs.
"I've seen it for years, and I never understood," Trump said in October. "Same company, same box, same pill, made in the exact same location. And you'll go to some countries, and it would be 20 percent the cost of what we pay, and in some cases much less than that."
The president is pushing an ambitious proposal that would tie certain Medicare drug prices to lower prices in other countries.
It's a plan that has found support from across the aisle. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 presidential candidate, has also compared the U.S. drug market unfavorably with Europe and has an even broader bill to lower U.S. prices in line with those in other countries.
But health industry experts caution there are critical differences between the two markets that complicate comparisons.
The United States spent $1,011 per person on drugs in 2015, according to the Commonwealth Fund, far higher than other countries. By comparison, Switzerland spent $783, the United Kingdom spent $497, and Sweden spent just $351.
"Prices are higher in the United States than in these other countries," said Rachel Sachs, a drug pricing expert at Washington University in St. Louis. "The general reason is that other countries negotiate for these prices and we really don't."
Examples abound of individual drugs costing more in the U.S. The cholesterol drug Crestor costs $86 in the United States and $20 in Norway, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The insulin drug Lantus costs $186 in the United States and $60 in Germany.
Other countries have a range of centralized government systems that negotiate in some way on drug prices and drive the prices down. They also often use systems that evaluate how effective a drug is compared to what is already on the market to determine what price is justified.
The United States largely does not have these controls.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote that diplomacy is equivalent to prudence and not weakness. Iran denounced the use of US unmanned military aircraft on its territory.This from RT 31/7/2019: Zarif shreds hypocrisy of US-Saudi partnership: 'Kill 3K Americans but remain a US client state'
Zarif is currently in the Venezuelan capital Caracas to attend the ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Office of the Non-Aligned Movement, which is not part of any collective defense pact in the interests of any major power.
"My country is at the forefront of resisting new unilateral US trends, including immediate economic terrorism. Our sincere efforts to address concern over our nuclear, though unfounded, peace program are one of many victims of the new unilateralism," he said.
"The US administration is defeating the nuclear deal with Iran, despite the investment the world has made to make it happen, and in the process it not only violated the relevant UN Security Council resolution, but also ironically sanctioned those who try to fulfill it," he added.
Iran's foreign minister has fired back at Washington's claim that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons, musing that the US would have no qualms with the Islamic Republic if it became a client state like Saudi Arabia. Javad Zarif made some unsettling observations about Washington's foreign policy posturing in the Middle East.
"Kill 3,000+ Americans but remain a US client and you can have nuclear weapons — even get help in acquiring them," Zarif wrote, referring to Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 alleged hijackers accused of carrying out the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were Saudi nationals.
He then contrasted Washington's deference towards Riyadh with its open hostility directed at Tehran.
"Refuse to bow to #B_Team 's whims, [and] you can't even possess peaceful nuclear energy. It apparently matters not that 'Iran is killing ISIS' while US' clients arm it," he said, echoing accusations that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been directly and indirectly supporting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
Zarif is known for his biting Twitter commentary. In a recent post, he explained that Iran was forced to develop its own defensive missile program after suffering eight years of war with Iraq - which at the time was being armed and supported by the West.
"At conferences like this, we talk about those costs in abstract terms. They are not abstract; they are real. The costs of irresponsible encryption that blocks legitimate law enforcement access is ultimately measured in a mounting number of victims — men, women, and children who are the victims of crimes — crimes that could have been prevented if law enforcement had been given lawful access to encrypted evidence."
"Wow! A federal Judge in the Southern District of N.Y. completely dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee against our historic 2016 campaign for President."The DNC did not immediately return a request for comment.
"The Judge said the DNC case was 'entirely divorced' from the facts, yet another total & complete vindication & exoneration from the Russian, WikiLeaks and every other form of HOAX perpetrated by the DNC, Radical Democrats and others. This is really big 'stuff' especially coming from a highly respected judge who was appointed by President Clinton. The Witch Hunt Ends!"
Germany will refuse to take part in a US-led maritime mission in the Strait of Hormuz, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced. Maas said that there "cannot be a military solution" to the current crisis in the Persian Gulf.See also:
Speaking in Warsaw, Poland on Wednesday, Maas said that Germany will turn down Washington's request, which was revealed by the US Embassy in Berlin on Tuesday.
That Germany would refuse to assist the American-led mission is no surprise. Washington's request was the subject of intense debate in Berlin, with opposition parties on the left and right pressuring Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government into saying no.
"We have to avoid further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz," Maas said on Wednesday. "That has always been our position." Compared to the United States and some of its allies, Germany has enjoyed relatively cordial relations with Tehran since the 1970s.
Despite Germany's refusal to join the US-led mission, some politicians in Berlin remain open to another kind of deployment. "The alternative is a European mission, if necessary without the British, if they decide for the US," Norbert Roettgen, a member of Merkel's CDU party, told German media on Tuesday.
The New START came into force in 2011 and gave the parties seven years to comply with weapons reduction targets. The deal was aimed at slashing the nuclear arsenals by a third and limiting each side to no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers, no more than 1,550 deployed warheads, and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers.Earlier this year, Russian and US officials held a series of consultations regarding the fate of the treaty, which expires in two years. Until now, Washington has not given a definitive yes or no, with Bolton saying in November that the White House had not formed its position yet.
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