Recently, the New York Times ran a story about the crippling cost of prescription drugs, confirming what caregivers like you and I see every day.  Patients are faced with paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for live-saving drugs because drug companies keep demanding more and more profits.

The article talked about Robert Banning, an 81-year-old man in Virginia, who after years of paying his premiums and playing by all the rules, is suddenly with faced with a $4,000 bill for the drug he needs to treat his chronic leukemia. He just can't afford it, so he goes without. As nurses and healthcare workers, we know that out-of-control drug prices are a public health emergency.  It's time for us to act.

Reigning in the skyrocketing costs of drugs starts with making drug companies disclose the ways they push doctors to prescribe high-cost drugs. Drug companies spend at least $25 billion per year marketing to doctors. Not only are these costs passed on to consumers – that $25 billion is built in to the cost of every drug we buy – but published evidence clearly shows that marketing spending shifts doctors toward higher cost and sometimes less-safe drugs.

Drug companies spent over $18 million on lobbying in the last election cycle. Robert Banning and patients just like him don't have thousands of lobbyists and millions of dollars on their side. That's why they need us.

How many more patients can you stand to watch give up the medication they need because prescription drug companies have free reign to charge patients what they want? This isn't about politics; it's about standing by our patients with every tool we have.

Join with your fellow nurses and healthcare workers by signing our petition.

We’ll then send this petition directly to your member of Congress so that our voices are heard!