OT on this tread but related to the previously posted WSJ article.
Drug Companies Are Spending Record Amounts on Lobbying
By SHAILAGH MURRAY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- The prescription-drug industry is spending record sums on lobbying activities and campaign contributions, according to a report by the watchdog group Public Citizen.
The drug industry spent $235.7 million to lobby Congress and the executive branch between 1997 and 1999, the report said. The annual total rose to $83.6 million during 1999 from $74.3 million during 1998.
Industry spending increased as lawmakers moved to add a prescription-drug benefit to Medicare, the report found. To block the Democrats' government-run benefit and related bills to control pharmaceuticals prices, the industry hired 297 lobbyists -- one for every two members of Congress, the report said.
Campaign contributions from the pharmaceuticals industry also rose briskly. Public Citizen expects donations to reach $13.8 million this year, a 43% increase from 1998 and a 147% increase from 1994.
Campaign giving continues to favor Republicans, but even more so today than previously. During the current election cycle, the GOP has received 73% of drug-industry contributions compared with 60% during 1994. So-called soft-money contributions -- uncapped sums that go directly to political parties -- accounted for 55% of industry campaign giving, the report found.
Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch, tied the contributions and the industry's lobbying to Congress's failure to legislate adequate drug coverage for seniors. "The drug industry has succeeded in blocking a comprehensive Medicare drug benefit that reins in sky-high drug costs," Mr. Clemente said.
Alan Holmer, president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry's trade group, said his organization supports a Medicare medicine benefit as long as it is offered through the private sector. He said contact with government officials is especially important for his industry "because it is so heavily regulated." He stressed that all the activities Public Citizen described are perfectly legal.
"We play by the rules and will continue to do so," Mr. Holmer said. Snip….
Jim |
