Ahead of the 2020 presidential race, New Jersey Democrat Sen. Cory Booker is working to shed his reputation of being a friend of the pharmaceutical industry, STAT reports.
Five things to know:
1. His reputation for being cozy with Big Pharma has developed over several years. In January 2017, the senator was heckled during a political rally for accepting more campaign funds from the pharmaceutical industry than any other lawmaker and for voting against a measure that would have allowed U.S. patients to import prescription drugs from Canada. In the last two years he has been hounded by criticism of his ties to the industry.
2. Lowering costs for prescription drugs is a big issue heading into the 2020 presidential election.
3. In the last two weeks, a viral Facebook video has questioned whether Mr. Booker is a Big Pharma candidate, and on the left-leaning "Breakfast Club" radio show, Mr. Booker was asked whether he could be trusted to hold Big Pharma accountable.
4. Lately he's taken a harsher tone toward Big Pharma. Mr. Booker has threatened to roll back patent protections and agreed to reject campaign funds from the pharmaceutical industry
5. "I live in Newark, a low-income community where people work for pharmaceutical companies,” Mr. Booker told STAT. "They might be the lab assistant, they might be the secretary, and they value those jobs. And even they know that we can have fair pricing and still have thriving companies. This is not an either-or. And right now we have practices going on that are abusing this nation and constituents of mine."
Read the full report here.