Ad For Prop. 61 Attacks ‘Big Pharma’ But Doesn’t Clearly Explain The Measure
The Mercury News fact checks an ad for the initiative aimed at curbing high drug prices.
The Mercury News:
Ad Watch: Yes On Proposition 61 Ad Might Hit Nerve With Voters
Dr. Otto Yang, identified as a “professor of medicine and AIDS researcher,” is dressed in a white lab coat and stethoscope. He asks viewers: “What if there were a pill to cure cancer but drug companies charged $10,000 a pill, or $1 million? Unfortunately, that is not too far off.’’ Yang then shows viewers a pill in his hand, which he says cures a deadly liver disease but costs more than $90,000 for a course of treatment. The doctor says that voters now have a chance to change that by voting yes on Prop. 61, which he says “will save Californians $1 billion dollars annually in drug costs.” (Seipel, 11/4)
California Healthline:
California’s Drug Price Initiative: Will Voters ‘Send A Signal To Washington’?
This year, Mary O’Connor and her father made voting a family affair. O’Connor’s father is a Vietnam veteran, so she was especially interested in his views on Proposition 61, a California ballot measure that would peg the state’s payments for prescription drugs to prices paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s widely believed the federal program for military personnel gets some of the deepest discounts in the country. (Bartolone, 11/7)
Politico Pro:
On The Ballot: Drug Prices, Single-Payer And Weed
Ballot measures in the states this year will test voter attitudes on many controversial issues that are playing out on a national level — whether it be drug pricing, universal health coverage or legalizing marijuana. The pharmaceutical industry faces a make-or-break fight in California over a controversial measure capping prices paid through state health programs. In Colorado, voters will decide whether they want to move beyond Obamacare to establish a single-payer system. (Pradhan and Cancryn, 11/6)
In other 2016 election news —
The Orange County Register:
Costa Mesa Family Fighting For City's Marijuana Measure To Help Daughter
Gianna Dragotto sits in her wheelchair at the 420 Central marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana, slowly chewing spoonfuls of her low-carb dinner, which is topped with cannabis oil. (Casiano, 11/5)