Expediting MAHA

As one who has been dealing with cancer treatment therapies since 2021, I can assure you that I welcome the announcement by Merck Pharmaceuticals that they will be expanding their American-produced cancer treatment facilities in the US. They are producers of both Keytruda and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatments, both of which I have been treated to combat my current cancer.

This is especially important since in the beginning, in 2021, BCG products were delayed by supply-chain issues from Europe, in the early days of Covid. And this is still an ongoing issue.

Now BCG will be manufactured here in the US, as well as Keytruda.

In response to President Trump’s threats to tariff, several other pharmaceutical companies are also investing in or shifting production to the United States. Companies like AstraZeneca, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Roche, and Johnson & Johnson are either expanding existing US manufacturing facilities or building new ones. This move is driven by factors like mitigating potential tariff impacts, diversifying supply chains, and bolstering national security.

This month, President Donald Trump directed his health department to work with Congress on revamping a law that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, seeking to introduce a change the pharmaceutical industry has lobbied for.

Trump cannot implement the change through executive order because the negotiation process is outlined in legislation, but his order instructs Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to work with Congress on changing it. And expediting the timeliness, where possible.

Other proposed changes to the negotiation process would yield more savings than those achieved during the first round under the Biden administration, White House officials told reporters on a call before the signing without providing specifics.

And the FDA is moving to eliminate food dyes from foods on a faster pace than the current schedule calls for.

A White House official revealed the administration would resurrect a program from Trump's first term to give insulin to seniors and low-income individuals, including those without insurance. In some cases, the official said, patients would pay three cents a vial, plus a small administrative fee, for insulin; injectable epinephrine would cost $15 for auto-injector under the program, the official said.

"The president is leveraging current programs to deliver meaningful cost savings here," the official said.

And between the tariffs and the on-shore Pharmaceuticals and the FDA changes and all the rest, it all will Make America Healthy Again.