It may only be her first year in Congress, but Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) has already established herself as a titan for holding corporations and those who profit from them accountable.
Her line of questions during a recent House Oversight Committee Hearing on drug prices was no different.
Porter unleashed on Mark J. Allies, CEO of the major pharmaceutical company Celgene. The Congresswoman pulled out her famous whiteboard to lay out her math, exposing the money he personally made from gouging the price of a cancer drug called Revlimid.
Watch below.
Oh my god, Katie Porter. pic.twitter.com/tO6B7xCx3G
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) September 30, 2020
Porter began by writing "$13 million" on the whiteboard, asking Allies if he knew what the number was.
He responded:
"I think you're referring to my compensation in some way."
Porter pointed out that out of the $13 million, $2.1 million came from Celgene meeting its yearly targets.
Porter pointed out:
"Any increase in the price of Revlimid would also increase your bonus by increasing earnings. isn't that right, Mr. Allies?"
He answered in the affirmative.
The Congresswoman continued.
"The Oversight Committee found that if you hadn't increased the price of Revlimid, you wouldn't have gotten your bonus. Mr. Allies, do you know how much you personally received in bonuses over the last two years just because Celgene raised the price of this one drug, Revlimid?"
When Allies responded that he received generous compensation, Porter laid out the rest of the details.
"The drug didn't get any better. The cancer patients didn't get any better. You just got better at making money. You just refined your skills at price gouging. And to be clear, the taxpayers spent $3.3 billion on Revlimid."
With untold numbers of Americans paying exorbitant prices for lifesaving medication, people applauded Porter for taking Allies to task.
Let's gooooo https://t.co/w8PzWePufy
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 30, 2020
There's literally nothing more satisfying than watching pharma execs squirm when Katie Porter brings out the white board.pic.twitter.com/1tksM3EAi5
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) September 30, 2020
PORTER/WHITE BOARD 2024 https://t.co/mflEgdibEh
— chelsea (@cee_ryan) September 30, 2020
Katie Porter is the Megan Rapinoe of congressional hearings. https://t.co/7vdI2lQvfZ
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) September 30, 2020
when porter pulls out the white board https://t.co/IlKAKeaTfA pic.twitter.com/HQg6f7vEXq
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) September 30, 2020
I love Katie Porter. DAMN https://t.co/iNnRWHdHgO
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 30, 2020
They felt she perfectly highlighted Allies' greed and the broader greed that for-profit pharmacy promulgates.
One of @RepKatiePorter 's million superpowers is that, wielding her white board to get the numbers straight, she gets evildoers to admit they don't even KNOW how much money they steal from the rest of us. What's $1m to them?
Oligarch sadism is above all careless. https://t.co/buFnJzA5Xk
— Virginia Heffernan (@page88) September 30, 2020
Micah 2:1-2
Ah, those who plan iniquity And design evil on their beds; When morning dawns, they do it, For they have the power.
But woe to them when it becomes Katie Porter's turn to ask the questions. https://t.co/AGS5Z6FIJq
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) September 30, 2020
PLEASE flip the Senate so we can actually pass bills that prevent this kind of price gouging. Rep Porter's white board can only do so much. https://t.co/zB0uWXv7y5
— Laurie Kilmartin (@anylaurie16) September 30, 2020
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram