The Food and Drug Administration states it is only trying to protect us from bad imported drugs. I read an article in the February Time magazine that almost made me fall out of my chair. The article is a good investigation into where the drug companies here in the United States have their drug manufacturing companies. Would you believe they are in Indonesia, Ireland, Britain, Germany, etc.? In those countries, it goes on to say, they have very few inspections by the FDA.

The federal government, mainly through the NIH, funds 36 percent of all U.S. medical research. There are over 600 lobbyists for the drug industry in Washington. More than one for every member of Congress.

The drug industry, according to that article, has refused to open its books, and Congress has refused to subpoena them.

I am outraged at how the government is siding with the drug companies. What we need in this country is price control over lifesaving drugs just like in other industrialized countries.

What we don’t need is a quick fix such as the government subsidizing Medicare and Medicaid. All that means is the patient pays and the government pays the drug companies the rest with tax dollars.

Our senators and representatives are playing games with the lives of a lot of people.

Bob Soucy, Lewiston