OPINION:
In “Drug price controls jeopardize Latino patients, workers” (Web, March 31) Carlos Orta argued that efforts to lower drug prices would harm Hispanic communities, and he uses familiar pharmaceutical industry talking points to make his argument.
Mr. Orta is right that Hispanic patients face disproportionately high rates of chronic disease, but that makes affordable medications even more important.
Nearly 70% of Hispanic adults report being worried about affording their medications. At the same time, access to affordable health care is worsening, not improving. These are well-documented realities, yet they are absent from Mr. Orta’s piece.
The U.S. already pays the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, and I have experienced this broken system firsthand. When I went to fill my prescription for Ozempic to manage my diabetes, I was told it would cost more than $1,000 a month out of pocket. I left the pharmacy without the medication because I couldn’t afford it.
Presenting efforts to lower drug prices as a threat to innovation and new-drug development ignores the real patient experience. For Hispanic patients like me, the real risk isn’t reform; it’s a system where lifesaving medications remain out of reach because of the cost.
SONIA VEGA
Phoenix, Arizona
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