Laura Flanders Show

This July, America's largest remaining generic drug manufacturing plant is set to close its doors forever in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its parent company, Viatris (formerly known as Mylan), plans to relocate operations to India and Australia, leaving more than 1,400 workers without jobs in the country's sixth poorest state. Economist Michael H. Shuman estimates the closure will cost West Virginia hundreds of millions of dollars. "It's the economic equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off," he says. But moving affordable drug manufacturing offshore is bad for public health too. So why aren't the state's governor or senators, or the Biden Administration, stepping in? Could the plant, the jobs, and domestic manufacture of affordable drugs be protected? What other choices could be made if we put local economies and public health before profits for Big Pharma? Laura travels to Morgantown, WV to speak with workers, organizers, and community members calling on officials to keep the Viatris plant open.

Episode Duration: 26 minutes and 46 seconds

Episode Number: 217

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About Laura Flanders Show:

THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW is an award-winning public affairs series that reports on community-led initiatives across the U.S.

creating a more inclusive society.

Host Laura Flanders - a New York broadcast journalist, author and contributing writer to The Nation - talks with experts and people on the front lines of artistic, cultural, social and economic movements.

Each episode blends reporting with in-depth interviews of leaders in the arts and small business world, profiling individuals and organizations uplifting and revitalizing their communities.