And one final note on Congress and drug pricing 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my colleague Lev Facher and I’s new story on infighting within the Democratic Party over how to tackle the issue of high prescription drug costs. There’s been a long-brewing feud in the party over whether to push forward with the campaign promise to empower Medicare to directly negotiate the price of drugs, or instead set up a system of arbitration to deal with a smaller number of drugs with sky-high price tags. Lev and I have all the scoopy details here. And Lev has a great post laying out everything you need to know about the three policy wonks with the ear of the House Speakers’ office here.

If you aren’t yet convinced about the seriousness of the infighting, here’s a quote that was left on the cutting room floor, from Public Citizen President Robert Weissman, who said proposals like binding arbitration would “go soft” on the industry:

“We don’t need proposals for the industry to rip us off a little bit less, we need to stop price gouging altogether and make sure people are able to afford and obtain the medicines they need,” he said.