As a registered nurse who has worked many years in a San Francisco hospital, I see firsthand how patients’ conditions are aggravated by their inability to pay for their medications. Making choices between paying for their meals, rent and medicine is a day-to-day reality for many.

Proposition 61 begins to address this for many. Don’t be fooled by the pharmaceutical advertisements that claim that Prop. 61 will cause increases in medicine costs for veterans; federal law requires discounts for drugs sold to Veterans Affairs.

Big Pharma has a big lobby group in Sacramento and Washington, and a seemingly bottomless pit of money to stop legislation. They hope they can deceive voters in California with the $100 million they are spending to oppose Prop. 61. Follow the money. We will not allow our collective voices to be silenced. We are standing united in the face of Big Pharma to put an end to the price gouging of medications in California.