The pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, is using Semafor to brag about its generosity abroad as it hikes U.S. drug prices.
by Andrew Perez, The Lever
Pfizer recently made headlines for hiking prices on roughly 100 drugs in the United States, shortly after the company announced plans to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine. Now, the pharmaceutical giant is paying news outlets to tell a different story — a fawning tale about how the company has been altruistically working to expand access to its products overseas.
On Tuesday, the news website Semafor ran a sponsored post from Pfizer bragging about the drugmaker’s efforts to “increase access to health care innovation” in low-income countries. Pfizer has also sponsored Semafor’s D.C.-focused “Principals” newsletter for Washington insiders in recent days. Next week, The Hill will host an event sponsored by Pfizer entitled “Expanding Adult Vaccine Access,” which will feature several D.C. lawmakers and a top federal health care regulator.
The Pfizer sponsorships are just the latest examples of how, when the news coverage gets rough, big businesses can pay corporate media to change the narrative and run counter-programming — with the hope that policymakers and consumers will be sufficiently distracted from the stories that really matter.
Recent Posts
Austin Man Shot by ICE Facing Paralysis After Being Refused Medical Care
Take Action Now “This isn’t law enforcement,” said U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. “It’s lawlessness.”By Julia Conley, Common Dreams…
Oregon Data Centers by the Numbers: 111 Facilities Consume Nearly One-Quarter of State’s Power, According to New Report
Take Action Now A first-of-its-kind report details the footprint of the controversial facilities.By Kyra Buckley, Oregon Public Broadcasting For…
Trump Says He Is in ‘Deciding Mode’ on Destroying Iran
Take Action Now The Pentagon’s own death count is undercounting US troops killed in the seven-month war, the Washington Post has reported.By…
In the Age of AI, Nuclear Weapons Abolition Is a Renewed Imperative
Take Action Now As long as we have nuclear weapons, the job of ending humanity will continue to be as easy as the push of a button—or an AI agent…