Nine in 10 U.S. consumers think pharma and biotech put profits above patient interests, according to the latest Harris Poll studying reputation equity across organizations serving health care. Notice the relatively low position of the green bars in the first chart (with the exception of the impression for “strong financial performance); these are the pharma/biotech consumer impressions.

The health industry stakeholders consumers believe would more likely place them above making money are health care providers, like doctors and nurses, hospitals, and pharmacists.

Health insurance companies fare somewhat better than pharma and biotech in this Poll, although rank low on social responsibility closest to pharma/biotech.

Health care providers, store pharmacists, and hospitals rank high when it comes to serving up high quality products and services, making a positive difference, and being socially responsible.

Pharma and biotech rank highest on delivering a “strong financial performance,” and lowest for “socially responsible behavior.”

On the issues of social responsibility and making a positive difference, this survey reinforces Gallup’s finding, consistent over many years, that pharmacists, nurses and doctors have the highest ethics of any profession in America, shown in the second chart.

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  Prescription drug costs are on the very short list of issues that Democrats and Republicans converge: that is, that prices are too high. President-Elect Trump recently referred to drug companies “murdering” consumers with said costs, discussed here in Health Populi. 

Note where Congress-folk rank in the Gallup poll’s honest-and-ethics survey: at the bottom, below those Mad Men who develop direct-to-consumer drug ads, and insurance salespeople.

Note that Donald Trump’s personal brand equity as he takes on the U.S. Presidency as at a record low for modern-era Presidents, shown in the third chart based on data from an NBC News/Wall Street Journey poll released yesterday (17 January 2017).

While repeal of the Affordable Care Act appears to be close to Job 1 for Republicans on the Hill, Donald Trump may be more rewarded by voters on both sides of the aisle, at least in the short term, by addressing the consumer/voter-facing costs of prescription drugs.