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Wednesday, October 16, 2002Over the last decade, PhRMA and its member drug companies have spent more than $1 billion -- far more than any other industry -- to influence the legislative process. In that time, they have hired more than 600 Washington lobbyists. They include several former senators and congressmen, such as Bob Livingston (R-La.), Vin Weber (R-Minn.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and Robert S. Walker (R-Pa.). In 2001, a nonelection year, the industry spent $76 million on lobbying, according to the Web site PoliticalMoneyLine.com. PhRMA officials, including president Alan F. Holmer, declined to be interviewed for this article. By comparison, the defense industry spent less than $59 million. No wonder the head of the drug lobby can say: "We will not be out-thought, we will not be outworked," PhRMA president Holmer declared at the organization's annual meeting in March. "Our mantra at PhRMA is this: We will never allow for failure whenever the political circumstances are at all manageable." Then there’s this eye-opener about the proportion of healthcare dollars spent on drugs: In 2000, for every dollar consumers paid for health care, 7 cents went to hospitals, 17 cents to physicians and other clinical caregivers, and 20 cents to prescription medicines. This we can’t blame exclusively on drug company lobbyists and politicians. Physicians and patients share a large chunk of the blame. If doctors were more discriminating in the drug therapy we recommend and if patients were more discriminating in their acceptance of drug advertising claims, the money spent on drugs by third party payers could be much lower. This is what comes from generous prescription benefit plans, and if Congress passes a drug coverage for Medicare it will only get worse. posted by Sydney on 10/16/2002 07:26:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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