Protesters demand affordable insulin prices during a September 5, 2019 demonstration outside pharma giant Eli Lilly's Manhattan office. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Jul 08, 2021
The leading 14 Big Pharma firms paid out more to enrich their investors than they spent on research and development from 2016 to 2020, a report published Thursday by the U.S. House Oversight Committee revealed, renewing calls from healthcare reform advocates for urgent action to reduce the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States.
The report (pdf)--the sixth in a series on prescription drug prices--notes that the 14 companies spent nearly 10% more on stock buybacks and dividends than they did on developing and testing new medications.
Meanwhile, according to the report, the 14 firms "spent over $3.2 billion in aggregate executive compensation for their highest paid executives in the past five years," an increase of 14% during the four-year period analyzed by congressional researchers.
\u201cThe 14 largest drug companies spend exorbitantly on stock buybacks, dividends, and fighting off generic competition\u2014all while American consumers pick up the tab.\n\nToday's staff report proves it. \nhttps://t.co/FeMdlGTO2K\u201d— Oversight Committee (@Oversight Committee) 1625775405
According to the committee's report:
- From 2016 to 2020, the 14 leading drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends, compared with $521 billion on R&D--a $56 billion difference.
- Assuming the same rate of spending, these 14 companies are projected to spend $1.15 trillion on buybacks and dividends from 2020 through 2029. This is more than twice the amount the Congressional Budget Office projected would be saved by H.R. 3 over the same period.
- From 2016 to 2020, compensation for the 14 companies' top executives totaled $3.2 billion, with compensation growing by 14% over that five-year period.
- Many drug companies spent a significant portion of their R&D budget on finding ways to suppress generic and biosimilar competition while continuing to raise prices, rather than on innovative research.
"Today's staff report makes clear that Congress needs to act to rein in out-of-control prescription drug prices," House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
"This report finds that the world's leading drug companies have used price increases to boost payouts to investors and executives while spending less on research and development," she continued. "The report also shows that industry claims about the potential impact of pricing reforms are overblown."
"Even if the pharmaceutical industry collected less revenue due to reforms such as H.R. 3, drug companies could maintain or even exceed their current levels of R&D if they spent less on rewarding shareholders and executives," she added.
Maloney was referring to the the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Prices Now Act, first introduced in 2019 by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and passed by a vote of 230-192. The bill was reintroduced in April.
Separately, lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Ro Khanna, (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) in March introduced a sweeping package of bills aimed at drastically reducing U.S. prescription medication prices.
\u201cSince 2016, 14 top pharmaceutical companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends \u2013 $56 billion more than research and development. We must lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in budget reconciliation and use the savings to expand Medicare with 51 votes.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1625772436
Reacting to the new report, Sanders tweeted, "We must lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in budget reconciliation and use the savings to expand Medicare."
Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, is playing a key role in Democratic efforts to advance a reconciliation package that includes "human infrastructure" provisions from President Joe Biden's American Jobs and Families Plans.
A Government Accountability Office study commissioned by Sanders and published in April found that U.S. consumers pay, on average, two to four times as much for prescription drugs as people in other developed nations.
The report comes several months after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) published an expose revealing "a troubling industry-wide trend of billions of dollars of corporate resources going toward acquiring other pharmaceutical corporations with patent-protected blockbuster drugs instead of putting those resources toward discovery of new drugs."
In May, Porter grilled AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez over what she called "the Big Pharma fairy tale" that drug research and development costs justify perpetual price hikes.
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The leading 14 Big Pharma firms paid out more to enrich their investors than they spent on research and development from 2016 to 2020, a report published Thursday by the U.S. House Oversight Committee revealed, renewing calls from healthcare reform advocates for urgent action to reduce the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States.
The report (pdf)--the sixth in a series on prescription drug prices--notes that the 14 companies spent nearly 10% more on stock buybacks and dividends than they did on developing and testing new medications.
Meanwhile, according to the report, the 14 firms "spent over $3.2 billion in aggregate executive compensation for their highest paid executives in the past five years," an increase of 14% during the four-year period analyzed by congressional researchers.
\u201cThe 14 largest drug companies spend exorbitantly on stock buybacks, dividends, and fighting off generic competition\u2014all while American consumers pick up the tab.\n\nToday's staff report proves it. \nhttps://t.co/FeMdlGTO2K\u201d— Oversight Committee (@Oversight Committee) 1625775405
According to the committee's report:
- From 2016 to 2020, the 14 leading drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends, compared with $521 billion on R&D--a $56 billion difference.
- Assuming the same rate of spending, these 14 companies are projected to spend $1.15 trillion on buybacks and dividends from 2020 through 2029. This is more than twice the amount the Congressional Budget Office projected would be saved by H.R. 3 over the same period.
- From 2016 to 2020, compensation for the 14 companies' top executives totaled $3.2 billion, with compensation growing by 14% over that five-year period.
- Many drug companies spent a significant portion of their R&D budget on finding ways to suppress generic and biosimilar competition while continuing to raise prices, rather than on innovative research.
"Today's staff report makes clear that Congress needs to act to rein in out-of-control prescription drug prices," House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
"This report finds that the world's leading drug companies have used price increases to boost payouts to investors and executives while spending less on research and development," she continued. "The report also shows that industry claims about the potential impact of pricing reforms are overblown."
"Even if the pharmaceutical industry collected less revenue due to reforms such as H.R. 3, drug companies could maintain or even exceed their current levels of R&D if they spent less on rewarding shareholders and executives," she added.
Maloney was referring to the the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Prices Now Act, first introduced in 2019 by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and passed by a vote of 230-192. The bill was reintroduced in April.
Separately, lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Ro Khanna, (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) in March introduced a sweeping package of bills aimed at drastically reducing U.S. prescription medication prices.
\u201cSince 2016, 14 top pharmaceutical companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends \u2013 $56 billion more than research and development. We must lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in budget reconciliation and use the savings to expand Medicare with 51 votes.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1625772436
Reacting to the new report, Sanders tweeted, "We must lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in budget reconciliation and use the savings to expand Medicare."
Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, is playing a key role in Democratic efforts to advance a reconciliation package that includes "human infrastructure" provisions from President Joe Biden's American Jobs and Families Plans.
A Government Accountability Office study commissioned by Sanders and published in April found that U.S. consumers pay, on average, two to four times as much for prescription drugs as people in other developed nations.
The report comes several months after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) published an expose revealing "a troubling industry-wide trend of billions of dollars of corporate resources going toward acquiring other pharmaceutical corporations with patent-protected blockbuster drugs instead of putting those resources toward discovery of new drugs."
In May, Porter grilled AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez over what she called "the Big Pharma fairy tale" that drug research and development costs justify perpetual price hikes.
The leading 14 Big Pharma firms paid out more to enrich their investors than they spent on research and development from 2016 to 2020, a report published Thursday by the U.S. House Oversight Committee revealed, renewing calls from healthcare reform advocates for urgent action to reduce the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States.
The report (pdf)--the sixth in a series on prescription drug prices--notes that the 14 companies spent nearly 10% more on stock buybacks and dividends than they did on developing and testing new medications.
Meanwhile, according to the report, the 14 firms "spent over $3.2 billion in aggregate executive compensation for their highest paid executives in the past five years," an increase of 14% during the four-year period analyzed by congressional researchers.
\u201cThe 14 largest drug companies spend exorbitantly on stock buybacks, dividends, and fighting off generic competition\u2014all while American consumers pick up the tab.\n\nToday's staff report proves it. \nhttps://t.co/FeMdlGTO2K\u201d— Oversight Committee (@Oversight Committee) 1625775405
According to the committee's report:
- From 2016 to 2020, the 14 leading drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends, compared with $521 billion on R&D--a $56 billion difference.
- Assuming the same rate of spending, these 14 companies are projected to spend $1.15 trillion on buybacks and dividends from 2020 through 2029. This is more than twice the amount the Congressional Budget Office projected would be saved by H.R. 3 over the same period.
- From 2016 to 2020, compensation for the 14 companies' top executives totaled $3.2 billion, with compensation growing by 14% over that five-year period.
- Many drug companies spent a significant portion of their R&D budget on finding ways to suppress generic and biosimilar competition while continuing to raise prices, rather than on innovative research.
"Today's staff report makes clear that Congress needs to act to rein in out-of-control prescription drug prices," House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
"This report finds that the world's leading drug companies have used price increases to boost payouts to investors and executives while spending less on research and development," she continued. "The report also shows that industry claims about the potential impact of pricing reforms are overblown."
"Even if the pharmaceutical industry collected less revenue due to reforms such as H.R. 3, drug companies could maintain or even exceed their current levels of R&D if they spent less on rewarding shareholders and executives," she added.
Maloney was referring to the the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Prices Now Act, first introduced in 2019 by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and passed by a vote of 230-192. The bill was reintroduced in April.
Separately, lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Ro Khanna, (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) in March introduced a sweeping package of bills aimed at drastically reducing U.S. prescription medication prices.
\u201cSince 2016, 14 top pharmaceutical companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends \u2013 $56 billion more than research and development. We must lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in budget reconciliation and use the savings to expand Medicare with 51 votes.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1625772436
Reacting to the new report, Sanders tweeted, "We must lower the outrageous price of prescription drugs in budget reconciliation and use the savings to expand Medicare."
Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, is playing a key role in Democratic efforts to advance a reconciliation package that includes "human infrastructure" provisions from President Joe Biden's American Jobs and Families Plans.
A Government Accountability Office study commissioned by Sanders and published in April found that U.S. consumers pay, on average, two to four times as much for prescription drugs as people in other developed nations.
The report comes several months after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) published an expose revealing "a troubling industry-wide trend of billions of dollars of corporate resources going toward acquiring other pharmaceutical corporations with patent-protected blockbuster drugs instead of putting those resources toward discovery of new drugs."
In May, Porter grilled AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez over what she called "the Big Pharma fairy tale" that drug research and development costs justify perpetual price hikes.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS
In 'Victory for the People,' Judge Blocks Parts of Trump's Attack on Voting Rights
"The president's attempted takeover of federal elections is a blatant overreach to seize power that doesn't belong to him," said lawyers for one coalition challenging the executive order.
Apr 24, 2025
Voting rights advocates on Thursday welcomed a federal judge's move to block some of U.S. President Donald Trump's "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections" executive order, which critics called an "authoritarian power grab."
The temporary decision stems from a trio of legal challenges to Trump's March order: one from groups including the League of United Latin American Citizens; another from the Democratic National Committee and other party entities; and a third from organizations including the League of Women Voters (LWV) Education Fund.
Plaintiff coalitions "contend that under our Constitution and the relevant law, the president has no role in regulating federal elections," explained U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton.
"Their motions do not call upon the court to decide whether the president's executive order reflects good policy choices or even whether the policies it describes would be legal if implemented," she wrote. "Rather, this court's task is to decide whether the president can dictate those policies unilaterally, or whether that power is reserved to Congress and the states alone."
"The many defendants in these consolidated cases—federal officers and agencies—say little about that question," the Washington, D.C.-based judge noted. "They have offered almost no defense of the president's order on the merits. Instead, they argue that these suits have been brought by the wrong plaintiffs at the wrong time."
Kollar-Kotelly granted a preliminary injunction to pause provisions including the addition of a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. However, she declined to halt Trump's restrictions on voting by mail or his directive to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Government Efficiency to review state voter lists.
"President Trump's attempt to impose a documentary proof of citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form is an unconstitutional abuse of power," said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, in a Thursday statement. "If implemented, it would place serious and unnecessary burdens on everyday Americans and strain already overburdened election officials."
"This executive order is part of a broader attack on our democratic elections by promoting baseless nativist conspiracy theories," she continued. "Today, the court blocked a key strategy of this attack. And we will keep fighting to ensure every eligible voter can make their voice heard without interference or intimidation."
The national and D.C. arms of the ACLU are among the legal groups representing the LWV coalition. In a joint statement, the lawyers said:
The court's decision today provides crucial protections for eligible voters, and the organizations that help them register to vote, while the fight continues against this illegal executive order. Millions of U.S. citizens lack easy access to a passport or other documents proving citizenship, and that shouldn't interfere with their ability to register to vote.
The president's attempted takeover of federal elections is a blatant overreach to seize power that doesn't belong to him. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the U.S. Congress and states. The president lacks authority to rewrite the country's election rules on his own by weaponizing an independent, bipartisan commission to harm eligible voters. The order should ultimately be struck down.
Our clients are conducting voter registration using the federal form on an ongoing basis, including for elections scheduled for this summer and fall. Not only would our clients be harmed by the mandate to include this unnecessary and cumbersome requirement but the voters they serve would be too.
Other voting rights advocates also welcomed the development. Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement that "today is a victory for the people in the ongoing fight to protect voting rights. We said in March that presidents don't set election law, and now a district judge has reaffirmed that fact."
"While today is a victory for the people, we know it is not the last battle in the fight for the ballot," she added. "Common Cause and our members will continue to protect the vote, whether attacks come from a president, Congress, or in the states. Voting is a right for the many, and we will fight for as long as we need to ensure it."
The Associated Press reported Thursday that "other lawsuits against Trump's order are still pending. In early April, 19 Democratic attorneys general asked the court to reject Trump's executive order. Washington and Oregon, which both hold all-mail elections, followed with their own lawsuit against the order."
Workers in 600+ US Cities to Protest 'Billionaire Takeover' on May Day
"Billionaires are attacking unions and immigrants because they fear our collective power. But we're not afraid."
Apr 24, 2025
As labor unions and rights advocacy groups announced a mass mobilization planned for May 1, or May Day, one leader said the protests aim to "send a loud and clear message" to U.S. President Donald Trump, his adviser Elon Musk, "and the rest of the billionaire oligarchs trying to destroy our democracy."
"There will be no business as usual while they are disappearing people off the street, slashing critical services, and taking away our freedoms," said Saqib Bhatti, executive director of Bargaining for the Common Good. "They're causing a crisis in our communities. We're going to bring that crisis directly to their doorsteps."
The protests will take place in over 600 cities in all 50 states, said organizers, with advocates demanding an end to Trump's "billionaire agenda"—one characterized by plans to slash Head Start, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to secure $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the richest Americans.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who Trump named to lead his Department of Government Efficiency, has provoked nationwide outrage with his cuts to more than 280,000 federal jobs, while the president's push to root out pro-Palestinian advocacy—which his administration has explicitly conflated with antisemitism and support for terrorism—has resulted in the arrests of several student organizers.
The president's deal with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, under which he has expelled hundreds of migrants—many of whom had no criminal records—to a notorious prison, has also garnered outrage among Americans and human rights groups.
"Our communities are mobilizing for May Day because we want a world where it's workers, students, immigrants, and working-class communities who thrive."
"Billionaires are attacking unions and immigrants because they fear our collective power. But we're not afraid," said Jade Kelly, president of Communication Workers of America (CWA) 7799, a coalition of unions in Colorado. "Our labor movement is building something stronger than fear. May Day isn't a holiday, it's a call to action for workers across the world. Across the nation, we're reclaiming May Day in the spirit it was born, in solidarity with immigrants, in defense of all working people who make our schools run, our hospitals heal, our trains move, and our cities thrive."
The May Day protests will call for:
- An end to the billionaire takeover and corruption under the Trump administration;
- Full funding for public schools, healthcare, and housing for all;
- Protection and expansion of Medicaid, Social Security, and other critical social programs;
- An immediate halt to attacks on immigrants, Black, Indigenous, trans, and other targeted communities; and
- Union protections, fair wages, and dignity for all workers.
Rallies are planned in New York, the District of Columbia, Chicago, and Atlanta, among other cities.
Loan Tran, co-director of Rising Majority, said Trump and the billionaires who will benefit from his policies want Americans "to abandon our neighbors in favor of a future where only the ultra wealthy and political elites profit."
"Our communities are mobilizing for May Day because we want a world where it's workers, students, immigrants, and working-class communities who thrive; and a democracy where activists like Mahmoud Khalil can exercise their free speech while advocating for a cease-fire in Gaza or demanding that our government invest in housing, education, and healthcare for all instead of weapons and bombs," said Tran.
"On May Day," Tran added, "these attacks will be met with our people power, and we will fight for a real democracy in the U.S. that prioritizes the well-being of all people and the planet."
DNC Chair Takes Aim at Vice Chair David Hogg's Push for Primary Challengers
"There are some effective people in our party; there are certainly some who are failing to meet the moment and know it's time for them not to seek reelection," Hogg told The Washington Post's daily podcast.
Apr 24, 2025
Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg rankled some in the party when he announced last week that he intends to support primary challenges to "asleep-at-the-wheel" Democrats in safe-blue seats—and now DNC Chair Ken Martin has rebuked Hogg and is poised to offer him what amounts to an ultimatum.
According to Martin, Hogg's effort could threaten the perceived neutrality of the DNC.
"You can't be both the player and the referee. Our job is clear cut: let voters vote, and once they've made their choice, to fight like hell to get that Democrat elected to office," wrote Martin in a column forTime published on Thursday.
Martin also invoked an episode from DNC history, when revelations like leaked emails cast doubt on the DNC's neutrality in the 2016 primary race between then-presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, in favor of Clinton.
"The controversy alienated even our party's most loyal supporters who felt that party bosses, not Democratic primary voters, were deciding which candidate would emerge in the general election as the Democratic nominee," Martin wrote of that moment.
Martin also said that in the coming days, he plans to introduce reforms that will codify "principles of neutrality and fairness in our official party rules," including requiring party officers to stay neutral in Democratic primaries.
The outlet NOTUS was first to report Wednesday that Martin was planning to unveil this requirement, citing an unnamed senior official. Currently officers must remain neutral in presidential races.
Politico framed the move as an ultimatum, and wrote that "if passed by DNC members at their August meeting, [it] would effectively force Hogg to choose between remaining a party vice chair or stepping back from the group he co-founded, Leaders We Deserve."
Hogg, a gun reform activist and survivor of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, intends to support primary bids through Leaders We Deserve. The political action committee has pledged to spend $20 million to support challengers.
According to The Washington Post, Hogg has already identified some of the incumbents he would like to see gone and is recruiting people to mount bids against them.
"There are some effective people in our party; there are certainly some who are failing to meet the moment and know it's time for them not to seek reelection. Whether that's because they're too old, for example, or if that's just because they aren’t able to meet it," Hogg told Colby Itkowitz on "Post Reports," the newspaper's podcast. "Because frankly, unfortunately, sucking is something that is not limited to age."
Hogg said he would not support challenges to Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), James Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Steny Hoyer (D-M.D.)—but did not name the incumbents he had in mind to challenge.
On Wednesday, the progressive group Our Revolution announced results from a survey which showed that there's support among progressive and Democratic-leaning voters for primarying establishment Democrats who "lack grassroots energy or urgency."
"Our Revolution polling shows Hogg's sentiment is shared by a large majority of engaged progressive voters," the group said.
Most Popular
We cover the issues the corporate media never will.
Please support our journalism.