White House meeting with top pharmaceutical executives called off

(Reuters) – A meeting with top pharmaceutical executives that President Donald Trump promised for Tuesday has been called off, a White House official said on Monday.

“We’ve been more than accommodating” in trying to set it up, the White House official told Reuters, adding that they couldn’t get all the executives at the same time.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing executive orders on lowering drug prices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Politico earlier reported citing industry sources that the discussion was called off because major drug lobbies, reeling from a series of executive orders, refused to send any members.

Trump on Friday signed four executive orders aimed at lowering the prices Americans pay for prescription drugs, as he faces an uphill re-election battle and criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The drug lobbies PhRMA and BIO were reluctant to send representatives from their member companies after conflicting reports last week about whether the White House would include the rule and little information to date about what the new rule would look like, Politico reported politico.com/news/2020/07/27/drugmakers-trump-meeting-canceled-382847.