Bernie starts the new year with an uppercut at the drug industry

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is out with a new ad slamming the pharmaceutical industry, and in characteristic Sanders fashion, it pulls no punches: It opens with a family grieving at the grave of a young woman who died after being denied care for a blood clot.

“There are people who are dying in America because they cannot afford the outrageous cost of prescription drugs in this country,” the ad states. “And we have a government that does nothing about it because this government is owned by the pharmaceutical industry.”

The ad will run in New Hampshire and Iowa. Sanders has put $110,000 behind the ad in those states so far, according to an analysis from Advertising Analytics.

It’s no surprise that Sanders is slamming drug makers, given he’s championed everything from importing drugs from Canada to breaking drug makers’ patents. But it’s the first TV ad from one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination that’s squarely focused on drug pricing. So far the only candidate who has made drug pricing such a key component of their strategy to reach voters has been Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has been running a drug pricing-focused spot since early December.