Pictured AIDS activist Jim Pickett and people protesting drug prices at the Abbott shareholders meeting north of Chicago April 23. The police presence was strong outside of Abbott April 23. At right, one woman crossed to the median of the busy street (protesters were only allowed across the street from Abbott). She and another protester were escorted back to the protest area. Photos by Tracy Baim
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Wearing pig snouts and carrying signs saying 'drug companies make us sick' and 'stop Abbott greed,' about 70 activists converged Friday on the fringes of the Abbott Laboratories North suburban campus to protest a 400 percent price hike in Norvir, a drug used to treat HIV/AIDS, and a price increase on a thyroid drug for senior citizens.
The advocates came on buses and in cars from Chicago to Lake Forest hoping to draw the attention of the 1,900 in attendance at Abbott Laboratories' annual shareholder conference.
'It's important that we raise awareness about what Abbott is doing to people in the later stages of HIV and the situation of seniors on a fixed income,' said Cathy Christeller, the executive director of the Chicago Women's AIDS Project.
Members of the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition were protesting the December 2003 increase in Norvir, which has gone from costing users on the average dose $1.71 a day to $8.57 a day.
'I'm lucky that I'm on a plan, but if I weren't, about 80 percent of my disability would have to go toward my treatment and I don't know how I'd survive the increase in prices,' said Rob Hadley, who has been living with AIDS since 1992 and HIV + since 1988.
The drug is particularly useful because it is used in a number of HIV-treatment cocktails. Norvir is also used as booster drug, or one that promotes the effect of other HIV drugs, making larger, and more toxic doses of the other drugs unnecessary, according to Jim Howley, a representative for Abbott Laboratories who is HIV +.
Representatives from Abbott Laboratories said they raised the price of the drug because it was essential in fighting AIDS and would use profits to provide for better research and development.
'The bottom line is that we're reflecting the value of what the drug does,' Howley said, adding 'We spent about $5 million a day on research and development and the price increase on Norvir will pay for about 10 days of that.'
Abbott has also increased the price of Synthroid ten times in a five year period. Ann Benek, a retired teamster from McKinley Park, called Abbott's profits 'astronomical' and said that an increase in drug prices could force seniors living on little money to forgo other necessities to pay for medicine—including food.
Abbott representatives responded to inquiries about the price of Synthroid saying only that the average cost for a month's supply was $20, cheaper than the cost for a month's supply of an average generic drug.
But AIDS and senior citizens advocates said they were displeased that a drug company would increase prices for any drug already on the market in the name of research and development.
'It's unprecedented. The greed of this company is unbelievable,' said Matt Sharp of ATAC. 'This is a drug used in the late stages of HIV and this is going to affect the sickest people.'
Activists also pointed out that just weeks after the increase, Abbott Laboratories increased CEO Miles White's salary 4.5 percent and his bonus 40 percent to $3.4 million.
Other activists were concerned that the cost could both increase insurance premiums and prove harmful to people already enrolled in AIDS treatment programs for those with severe financial difficulties, such as the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in Illinois. They said they fear that ADAP programs could go bankrupt and for the uninsured—potentially limiting access to the drug.
'I've never been on the streets, but I feel like I'm being pimped out,' said Ida Bythersmith, a mother with HIV who was infected because her husband is a MSM [man who has sex with men]. 'We just can't pay for all of this, so what are we going to do, die?'
Howley and another Abbott representative, Laureen Cassidy, said little will change for the approximately 54 percent of HIV/AIDS patients whose medicines are paid for by state-run programs. They said the company froze what it charges ADAP and Medicaid for Norvir.
And Abbot representatives said they have a Norvir Patient Assistance Program, established in December, that enables patients to receive free Norvir regardless of income.
Last week, Abbott was hit with a federal anti-trust lawsuit by two patients seeking damages and an injunction to halt the higher prices in the District Court for the Northern District of California, according to the Advocate. Others have also charged that Abbott has been misleading about its Norvir assistance programs.
Some of the activists were concerned that where Abbott allowed them to protest—across the street from a lot that the shareholders were not using—might have muted their impact on the shareholders themselves. But they do hope that they touched a wider audience. 'We got the public to pay attention to this price increase and Abbott's many inconsistencies,' said Jim Pickett, a protest organizer.
Abbott representatives maintained that the placement away from the main entrance was made with the safety of the protesters in mind.
About eight percent of the shareholders at the meeting, led by the religious group the Society of Jesus, a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, voted in support of a report by the company looking at the impact of the global AIDS pandemic and the economic impact it would have on Abbott Laboratories.
Additionally, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced plans to launch an investigation into the price increase. She is joined by the attorney generals in New York and California. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted a hearing two weeks ago regarding Abbott's pricing practices.
