SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in 2019, he promised to lower prescription drug costs for all Californians.
But now, as Newsom nears the end of his first term, his ambitious ideas — such as requiring California to make its own insulin and forging drug partnerships across state lines — have failed to get off the ground or haven’t produced the hefty savings he promised.
“There are powerful forces arrayed against us — not just politicians in Washington, but drug companies that gouge Californians with sky-high prices,” Newsom said on his inauguration day in January 2019. “Here in California, we have the power to stand up to them, and we will.”
