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"Even though he may be able to afford some of the most expensive lawyers in America—no, Dr. de la Torre is not above the law," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
A U.S. Senate panel led by Sen. Bernie Sanders voted Thursday in favor of holding Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in civil and criminal contempt after he refused to appear at a hearing last week in defiance of a congressional subpoena.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed the contempt resolutions in a near-unanimous vote, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) abstaining.
The vote marked "the first time in modern American history that the HELP Committee has issued a civil or criminal contempt resolution," according to Sanders' office.
The approval of the two resolutions, which now head to the full Senate for consideration, could mean jail time for de la Torre, who has come under fire for purchasing two yachts as his private equity-backed company faced financial turmoil. De la Torre was paid a salary of nearly $4 million the year before Steward ultimately filed for bankruptcy.
A lawyer for de la Torre insisted in a letter to Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday that the CEO "lacks the authority to speak on behalf of Steward with respect to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and he is prohibited by a federal court order from doing so."
Ahead of Thursday's vote, Sanders said de la Torre's decision not to comply with the Senate HELP Committee's subpoena was "unfortunate and unacceptable."
"For months, this committee has invited Dr. de la Torre to testify about the financial mismanagement and what occurred at Steward Health Care. Time after time he has arrogantly refused to appear," said Sanders. "Dr. de la Torre has given us no choice but to move forward this morning on two resolutions to enforce the subpoena and to hold him accountable for his actions."
"Even though Dr. de la Torre may be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, even though he may be able to own fancy yachts and private jets and luxurious accommodations throughout the world, even though he may be able to afford some of the most expensive lawyers in America—no, Dr. de la Torre is not above the law," Sanders added.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate panel, said in a statement that "as a physician and as the CEO of Steward from its founding, there is no one who understood the potential consequences of Steward's failures more than Dr. Ralph de la Torre."
"Dr. de la Torre led Steward when it sold out hospital real estate to Medical Properties Trust and allowed [the private equity firm] Cerberus to extract over $800 million in profit," said Markey. "Dr. de la Torre led Steward as eight hospitals closed, 2,000 patients were endangered, and at least 15 patients died. Dr. de la Torre led Steward as it filed for bankruptcy."
"We are making clear to Dr. de la Torre, the Steward Board of Directors and senior leadership, and other CEOs, private equity investors, and corporate executives who treat the healthcare system like their piggy bank: Your millions do not shield you from accountability to a legal order issued by the United States Senate," Markey added.
The Senate panel's passage of the two resolutions comes a week after Steward nurses told the committee—in de la Torre's absence—that Steward-owned hospitals were disastrous for patients and healthcare workers. A report published by the Senate HELP Committee earlier this month found that "death rates for certain conditions at some Steward-owned hospitals increased as death rates for those same conditions held steady or decreased across the country."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement Thursday that the Senate panel's "actions today are an important reminder that no one is above the law."
"Congress and the American people deserve answers on what happened under Dr. de la Torre's watch at Steward, as his damaging actions had real consequences for patient health," said Gilbert. "Dr. de la Torre and others like him should not be able to ignore congressional subpoenas without accountability."
If the full Senate approves the criminal contempt resolution, it would "refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Dr. de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena," Sanders' office said.
"There is extensive evidence that these systems are being used in violation of U.S. and international law," said the senator.
Demanding that the Biden administration follow the lead of several close U.S. allies in recent months, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday announced his intention to take action on the Senate floor to stop the flow of American weapons to Israel.
The Vermont independent said in a statement that he plans to file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) regarding the sale of offensive weapons to the Middle Eastern country, which for nearly a year has bombarded civilian infrastructure and blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians and pushing the enclave into famine.
The JRD is the only congressional mechanism that can prevent weapons sales from moving forward, and after months of demanding the Biden administration end military support for Israel, Sanders said that "Congress must act to save lives, uphold U.S. and international law, and stand up for U.S. interests."
HuffPost journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed reported that other lawmakers, including Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are involved in the JRD effort, "a key factor in how much support this can get" before a vote, which would "most likely" take place in November.
After a Hamas-led attack last October, said Sanders on Wednesday, Israel did not "have the right to wage an all-out war against the Palestinian people, which is what Prime Minister Netanyahu's extremist government has done."
"As a result of Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid into Gaza, many thousands of children there face malnutrition and even starvation," said the senator. "Sadly, and illegally, much of the carnage in Gaza has been carried out with U.S.-provided military equipment. Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate U.S. and international law."
Sanders noted that continuing to export weapons to Israel—like the $20 billion in arms sales that President Joe Biden approved in August—would violate U.S. laws including the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), as U.S. weapons have been directly linked to attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Palestinian civilians.
As Amnesty International reported in April, the IDF used U.S. bombs and other weapons in several attacks, including four strikes in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that killed at least 95 civilians, including 42 children last December and January.
Sanders noted that other weapons included in the August arms sales approval—Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), totaling $262 million; and 120mm tank rounds, totaling $774.1 million—were "particularly concerning, given their indiscriminate use in Gaza."
The senator cited an Israeli JDAM strike on October 31, 2023 in Jabalia, which killed at least 126 civilians, including 69 children. He also pointed to the 120mm tank rounds used by the IDF in Gaza City on January 29, 2024 in an attack that killed six-year-old Hind Rajab and two paramedics.
"There is extensive evidence that these systems are being used in violation of U.S. and international law," said Sanders, citing the administration's own report pursuant to National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), which stated that "it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm."
"In light of this reality," said Sanders, "it is inappropriate to move ahead with these sales."
The senator noted that U.S. allies including the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands are among those that have restricted weapons sales to Israel, with officials citing the risk that the transfers could make their governments complicit in violations of international law.
"The sales would reward Netanyahu's extremist government, even as it continues to cause massive destruction in Gaza, undermine the prospects of a cease-fire deal that would secure the release of the hostages, and advance its effort to illegally annex the West Bank," said Sanders. "We must end our complicity in Israel's illegal and indiscriminate military campaign, which has caused mass civilian death and suffering."
James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute, applauded Sanders' plan to file the JRD, calling it a "critically important step to block $20 billion in U.S. arms to Israel."
"Genocide in Gaza, annexation in the West Bank, and expansion of the war in Lebanon will continue as long as Israel's impunity continues," said Zogby. "We must act now."
"Why? Excessive corporate greed," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders called out the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk on Tuesday for charging American patients more than $900 a month for the increasingly popular diabetes drug Ozempic, even though generic manufacturers are willing to sell the medication for significantly less.
During a panel discussion with experts, Sanders (I-Vt.) said he and his staff have been in contact with the top executives of major drug makers who say they could sell a generic version of Ozempic for less than $100 a month—and still turn a profit. A recent study found that the drug can be manufactured for less than $5 a month.
"Novo Nordisk, which has made nearly $50 billion in sales off of Ozempic and Wegovy, charges Americans almost $1,000 a month—the highest prices in the world," Sanders, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said Tuesday. "Why? Excessive corporate greed."
Ozempic and Wegovy are part of a class of treatments known as GLP-1s. Wegovy, a weight-loss drug that Novo Nordisk sells for $1,349 a month in the U.S., contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic, which is approved only for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The drugs' growing popularity in the U.S. has drawn greater scrutiny to Novo Nordisk's pricing. Sanders' office noted Tuesday that the company's price tag for Wegovy is $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany, and $92 in the United Kingdom.
Novo Nordisk's high prices for the drugs in the U.S. could have far-reaching impacts on the nation's healthcare system. A group of economists wrote in a recent op-ed for The New York Times earlier this year that "under reasonable assumptions and at current prices, making this class of drugs available to all obese Americans could eventually cost over $1 trillion per year," which is "almost as much as the government spends on the entire Medicare program and almost one-fifth of the entire amount America spends on healthcare."
Sanders warned Tuesday that if the prices of Ozempic and Wegovy aren't reined in, Medicare premiums could surge.
"Our healthcare system, I think most people understand, is in crisis," Sanders said during the panel discussion. "The business model of the pharmaceutical industry is unsustainable."
Over the course of our investigation into the outrageous cost of Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S., I spoke with the CEOs of major generic pharmaceutical companies who confirmed:
They can sell a generic version of Ozempic for $100/mo. https://t.co/XDHdBRPIcM
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 17, 2024
Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines Program at Public Citizen, said in a statement Tuesday that "all we need to make Ozempic for $100 a reality is to overcome Novo's patent monopoly, which the government has the power to do any time."
"States and clinicians are asking the feds for help," said Maybarduk. "We estimate taking action on Novo's patents could save Medicare more than $14 billion in the first two years of competition, while making diabetes and obesity drugs affordable."
Last month, Public Citizen delivered a petition to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urging him to use existing law to "authorize generic competitors to Ozempic and Wegovy."
"Novo Nordisk’s outrageous pricing of [Ozempic and Wegovy] threatens to break the coffers of federal health programs," the group wrote. "Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1498, the administration should authorize use of any and all patents necessary to allow manufacturers to produce generic alternatives to these treatments on behalf of the United States government, which can be used to supply Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs. This will facilitate competition and make the treatments more affordable and accessible for patients."
The CEO of Novo Nordisk, which has spent aggressively on lobbying this year, is scheduled to testify before the Senate HELP Committee next week.