{"id":32504,"date":"2019-04-25T13:25:26","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T17:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/?p=32504"},"modified":"2023-12-14T10:47:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T15:47:08","slug":"johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnson & Johnson Urged to Break Ties with Pro-Rationing Health Care Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

CEO Alex Gorsky Indicates Future Support of ICER Could Be at Risk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

New Brunswick, NJ \/ Washington, D.C.<\/em> –\u00a0Asked to justify Johnson & Johnson\u2019s funding of a group that promotes the rationing of health care, CEO Alex Gorsky told a representative of the National Center for Public Policy Research\u2019s Free Enterprise Project<\/a> (FEP) today that he might reconsider the company\u2019s affiliation with the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) if it is found to not meet the company\u2019s goal of offering the best care to Americans in need.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>

David W. Almasi at Johnson & Johnson’s annual shareholder meeting<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDoctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals have oaths that uniformly demand they provide high-quality care to patients. Likewise, Johnson & Johnson has a credo pledging to aid those professionals and their patients. Rationing health care services violates all of these promises,\u201d said National Center Vice President David W. Almasi<\/a>, who represented FEP at the meeting. \u201cOffering support to groups like ICER could lead to British-style rationed health care here, and that is not what an American company like Johnson & Johnson should be doing. We hope we helped educate Johnson & Johnson executives about ICER and made shareholders more aware of what is being done with their money.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the shareholder meeting, Almasi pointed out that ICER \u2013 whose annual policy summit and webinars are funded<\/a> in part by Johnson & Johnson – was founded by Dr. Steven Pearson. Dr. Pearson previously worked with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in Great Britain.<\/p>\n

Almasi explained to Gorsky:<\/p>\n

Thanks to NICE guidelines, millions of British citizens are on waiting lists<\/a> at any given time for procedures, hundreds of thousands are waiting for basic diagnostic tests, and thousands of operations are regularly cancelled<\/a>. The Guardian recently reported<\/a> that patients in Britain \u201cwho are losing their sight are being forced to wait for months before having eye cataracts removed because\u201d of \u201cimposed restrictions on patients\u2019 access to cataract surgery in more than half of England.\u201d That\u2019s not very nice. That sounds a lot like the left\u2019s Medicare-for-All plan.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what Dr. Pearson and ICER are hoping to replicate here in the United States. One way ICER is working to ration care<\/a> is by teaming up with retail pharmacies such as CVS and instituting subjective \u201ccost-effectiveness\u201d thresholds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Almasi then asked Gorsky: \u201cCan you explain how funding ICER<\/a> benefits Johnson & Johnson, and whether this funding fits within the company\u2019s credo?\u201d<\/p>\n

Almasi\u2019s entire prepared statement and question can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Johnson & Johnson\u2019s credo<\/a>, written by founding chairman Robert Wood Johnson over 75 years ago, states the company\u2019s \u201cfirst responsibility is to the patients, doctors and nurses\u201d and to parents. It also charges the company to be \u201cresponsible to the communities in which we live and work\u2026 [and] help people be healthier by supporting better access and care.\u201d At today\u2019s shareholder meeting, Gorsky committed the company to \u201creaching more patients in areas of unmet needs\u201d and addressing medical conditions that are treatable, curable and preventable.<\/p>\n

Gorsky told Almasi that the company was affiliated with many associations and nonprofits. He claimed to not be fully aware of ICER\u2019s agenda, but said he would consider re-evaluating Johnson & Johnson\u2019s relationship with ICER or any group that did not operate in a manner consistent with the company\u2019s credo and goals.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, Almasi also met with a key member of the Johnson & Johnson staff to open up further discussion concerning ICER and the potential of health care rationing in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave Johnson & Johnson the opportunity to walk back a relationship that should be of great worry to all health care consumers,\u201d said Almasi. \u201cNo one should be concerned they may be deemed unworthy of lifesaving care. We hope Johnson & Johnson will take a good, hard look at ICER and become a strong opponent of any proposals that might ration health care in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

FEP has written about ICER in the past, such as this article in The Federalist, “CVS Makes Plans To Ration Customers\u2019 Health Care<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Johnson & Johnson meeting marks the ninth time FEP has participated in a shareholder meeting in 2019.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2007, the National Center\u2019s Free Enterprise Project focuses on shareholder activism and the confluence of big government and big business. Over the past four years alone, FEP representatives have participated in over 100 shareholder meetings \u2013 advancing free-market ideals about health care, energy, taxes, subsidies, regulations, religious freedom, food policies, media bias, gun rights, workers\u2019 rights and other important public policy issues. As the leading voice for conservative-minded investors, it annually files more than 90 percent of all right-of-center shareholder resolutions. Dozens of liberal organizations, however, annually file more than 95 percent of all policy-oriented shareholder resolutions and continue to exert undue influence over corporate America.<\/p>\n

FEP activity has been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Variety<\/em>, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Drudge Report, Business Insider, National Public Radio and SiriusXM. FEP\u2019s work was prominently featured in Wall Street Journal<\/em> writer Kimberley Strassel\u2019s 2016 book The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech<\/em><\/a> (Hachette Book Group).<\/p>\n

The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions<\/a> a year from over 60,000 active recent contributors. Sign up for email updates here<\/a>. Follow us on Twitter at @FreeEntProject<\/a> and @NationalCenter<\/a> for general announcements. To be alerted to upcoming media appearances by National Center staff, follow our media appearances Twitter account at @NCPPRMedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CEO Alex Gorsky Indicates Future Support of ICER Could Be at Risk New Brunswick, NJ \/ Washington, D.C. –\u00a0Asked to justify Johnson & Johnson\u2019s funding of a group that promotes the rationing of health care, CEO Alex Gorsky told a representative of the National Center…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":32505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,24,773],"tags":[75],"yoast_head":"\nJohnson & Johnson Urged to Break Ties with Pro-Rationing Health Care Group - The National Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The National Center\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The National Center\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b8ca6710c21895f6ce418b5cc391bb6f\"},\"headline\":\"Johnson & Johnson Urged to Break Ties with Pro-Rationing Health Care Group\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-25T17:25:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-14T15:47:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/\"},\"wordCount\":984,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Johnson-Johnson-shareholder-meeting.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Press Release\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Free Enterprise Project\",\"Health\",\"JNJ\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2019\/04\/25\/johnson-johnson-urged-to-break-ties-with-pro-rationing-health-care-group\/\",\"name\":\"Johnson & Johnson Urged to Break Ties with Pro-Rationing Health Care Group - 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