A December 7, 2006 item by John Sterling on the Genetic Engineering News blog describes their podcast interview with ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan:
[W]e address the issue of the possibility of governmental price controls and what this will mean to the biotech and pharma industries. Such a move by the government would be sure to have unintended consequences. The information Dr. Whelan presents is compelling and urgent for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry and their collaborators in academia. Be sure to listen!
The newly elected Democratic Congress has said that it plans to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry. "Very bad idea," says Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, and this week's GEN podcast interviewee. Dr. Whelan views such an action as another example of the government interfering with scientific research, with potential disastrous results for the pharmaceutical industry and, ultimately, healthcare consumers. She also addresses the issue of drug importation from Canada and refutes the oft-quoted arguments such as "pharmaceutical profits are too high" and the "drug industry is greedy and dishonest."
