WASHINGTON, D.C — Drug company executives proved just how out of touch they are with the American public by answering one key question during yesterday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing: What keeps you up at night? Patients For Affordable Drugs released a new digital video today to highlight what should matter to the drug corporations: that patients are dying because they cannot afford medication.

WATCH: “True Motive”

“Drug company executives revealed their driving motivation: new drugs and more profit,” said Ben Wakana, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs. “But they missed an important reason drug companies exist: to serve patients today. And American patients increasingly can’t afford old or new prescription drugs. That’s why reform is needed.”

TRANSCRIPT:

At a congressional hearing, drug executives were asked:

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): What keeps you up at night?

Sanofi CEO Oliver Brandicourt: It’s to ensure that I have a pipeline of new products.

Not a single CEO worried about reducing drug prices for patients

Nicole Holt-Smith: My son died because he could not afford his insulin.

Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier: The thing that keeps me up at night is that we will not have a viable, predictable market.

Nicole Holt-Smith: Nobody to be there with him, to hold his hand, to call for help.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot: To come up with ways to demonstrate the value of our products.

Nicole Holt-Smith: It’s like reality slaps me in my face that my son is no longer here.

Big Pharma should focus on lowering prices, not juicing profits.

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