Electric vehicles, carbon capture technology, and switching from plastic to paper at the grocery store are all transitions that are happening to move our country and world into a more sustainable future. Fighting climate change has never been more important—however, some industries use this very real emergency to scare Americans in order to make millions of dollars for themselves. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, that's happening in the pharmaceutical industry and will risk millions of lives.
The current information you get stapled to your prescription bag at a pharmacy reads like an encyclopedia. That's why Congress is considering a bill that will ensure that when millions of Americans pick up their regular prescriptions, they have printed, easily readable information they need to correctly and safely take their medication. This legislation will ensure that Americans know how to take their medication, what drug interactions could happen, which side effects are dangerous, and it will update the format of this information so it's easy to understand. Every year, about 125,000 Americans die, 1.3 million Americans are admitted to the emergency room, and up to $300 billion in health care dollars are spent due to medication non-adherence.
This legislation may seem non-controversial, but to an industry that is trying to cut costs and has a history of not considering patient health, it's not. Big Pharma is clearly motivated to block this legislation in Congress and is using the guise of protecting the planet instead of what they're really doing—protecting their bottom line.
Big Pharma is trying desperately hard to pass off the cost of printing patient medication information to local pharmacies. They are claiming that this is an altruistic effort to reduce paper and save trees, but this doesn't pass the smell test. Big Pharma is notorious for padding its profits at the expense of patients, such as by hiking drug prices to historic highs, all while spending exorbitantly on lobbyists, advertising, and political donations. Even the most casual observers can recognize that this effort to eliminate paper medication information is a way for Big Pharma to save a buck—and they're using the fight against climate change for cover.
If Big Pharma had it their way, they'd support forcing community pharmacies to take on the burden of printing patient medication information, or stop printing patient medication information altogether and we'd all be sent medication information in an email or have to find it online. And while that may seem fine for some patients, once you think about it, it's not. Not only are there risks to having your sensitive and personal medical information available online, but it completely abandons millions of rural Americans who don't have access to the internet, millions of lower-income Americans who can't afford Wi-Fi-connected phones, and older Americans who have trouble with technology.
Rural, lower-income, and older Americans' health care needs to be protected, and that's why Representatives Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) introduced the Patients' Right to Know Their Medication Act.
The fact is that none of this has to do with sustainability. The impact of one additional piece of paper is minimal, especially when compared to the very real, life-saving benefits that it will provide. Additionally, the companies that print patient medical information plant double the number of trees needed to produce that paper, all in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.
As someone who deeply cares about our environment and fighting climate change, I'm surprised that the environmental and sustainable community hasn't pushed back against Big Pharma hi-jacking their cause.
If Big Pharma actually cares about the environment, there are plenty of areas they can become more sustainable without risking lives.
Max Rose is a former member of Congress.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
