29 November 2017 - Alex M. Azar II, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, said Wednesday that he would try to reduce the burden of high drug costs, but he largely absolved drug companies from blame, placing the responsibility on a system that encourages price increases on medicines.

Mr. Azar sailed through the first of two hearings on his nomination without making major missteps. But he did not appear to dispel the doubts of Democrats who distrust him because of his experience as a top executive at a major drug maker, Eli Lilly and Company, for 10 years.

Democrats said that Mr. Azar had enriched himself in going from government to private industry and was potentially tainted by his work in the sector. One Republican, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined that chorus.

“You’ve got some convincing to make me believe that you’re going to represent the American people and not Big Pharma,” he told Mr. Azar.

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