WASHINGTON — One of Washington’s most prominent drug pricing patient groups is tapping an advocate who has fought for access to medicines for nearly two decades as its new leader.
Merith Basey, who most recently led a group that promotes access to medicine by pressuring universities, took the helm of Patients for Affordable Drugs as the group is fighting to defend implementation of Democrats’ major drug pricing reform package, including a brand-new Medicare drug price negotiation program.
“Our number one challenge will be that the pharmaceutical industry is not going to quit overnight,” Basey said in an interview with STAT. “They’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent Medicare negotiation, and we know that Patients for Affordable Drugs won’t be stopping either.”
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