To the Editor:
So sad to hear that another Oregon legislator has announced a cancer diagnosis, especially so soon after we lost other state leaders to that same disease. Moments like this remind us that cancer touches every family in our state.
As someone who lost my father to cancer, I am very aware that national policy is drifting in the wrong direction. The Trump administration has moved to cut federal cancer research funding at a time when scientists urgently need more resources to develop earlier detection tools, better therapies and, one day, a cure.
At the same time, the administration continues to promote a “most favored nation” (MFN) policy as an answer to treatment accessibility. MFN would tie the price and availability of many cancer drugs in the US to what other countries choose to pay. That may sound simple, but it would likely restrict access to frontline treatments and delay the introduction of new cancer therapies. Cancer patients cannot afford policies that put bureaucracy between them and the medicines their doctors recommend.
Instead of cuts and counterproductive pricing schemes, the administration should focus on solutions that can earn broad bipartisan support. Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform is one of those solutions. PBMs continue to drive up the cost of lifesaving medications and interfere with treatment decisions. Fixing that system would bring real relief to patients.
Cancer touches all of us. Our leaders should respond with policies that strengthen care, support research and protect access, not weaken it.
Chelsea Fretwell
Editor’s note: Letters to the Editor are to be less than 300 words. The Southeast Examiner reserves the right to edit for length or content.