LANSING — On Sep 18th, state Representative Julie Brixie, Care Free Medical CEO Dr. Farhan Bhatti, and veteran Valerie Johnson slammed Mike Rogers for being a “leading advocate for greater access to [opioids]” at a press conference in Lansing. 

“In Michigan and across our country, so many families have been personally impacted by the opioid crisis, including mine. While his constituents were begging lawmakers to solve this epidemic, Mike Rogers was taking money from drug companies and expanding access to opioids across our state. We deserve a Senator like Elissa Slotkin who will take on Big Pharma and help Michigan families,” said state Representative Julie Brixie. 

“As a doctor, I know how critical it is to ensure our families and communities are safe and healthy. Instead of working to stop the opioid crisis, Mike Rogers exacerbated it by siding with, and taking money from, the drug companies that are now paying billions of dollars in opioid settlements,” said Dr. Farhan Bhatti, CEO of Care Free Medical. 

“As a veteran, I have seen the opioid crisis destroy some of the very people who sacrificed their time and health for the freedoms of this country. They put themselves in harm’s way, and when they came home, politicians like Mike Rogers allowed them to become victims of Big Pharma all in the name of profits. It’s a shameful sellout of one of our most valued resources, our military veterans, and he should be held accountable for the damage he allowed to occur to this proud group of Americans who were vulnerable only because of their willingness to fight for the American way of life,” said veteran Valerie Johnson.

Rogers “received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the same drug companies that now are paying billions of dollars in national opioid settlements for their roles in causing the epidemic.” Even experts have noted that Rogers is “among the principal beneficiaries of pharma’s largesse.”

During Rogers’ “decade of advocacy… to boost opioid prescriptions,” “prescriptions soared during that decade, but so did addiction and deaths, as the nation tumbled into a crushing epidemic it is still battling today.”

See also: Bridge Michigan: Mike Rogers vows to fight drug war, but urged opioid access in Congress

Note: Contact Sam Chan at [email protected] for a recording of the press conference.