PHARMA

---see also bio-techPHARMA2 AGE OF TRUMP capt 619

see tag phrma

promoted to primary on 1st amendment, also size of industry, plus reliance on gaming fed gov't 8/16

=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/drugs/drug-companies-are-funding-investigational-studies-influence-their-results">https://www.alternet.org/drugs/drug-companies-are-funding-investigational-studies-influence-their-results</a>
<a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/drug-companies-sell-us-remedies-problems-caused-their-own-products">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/drug-companies-sell-us-remedies-problems-caused-their-own-products</a>
<div>=</div><div><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/senate-finance-committee-advances-alex-azars-nomination-to-head-hhs/2018/01/17/db4928c8-fb96-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?utm_term=.7d898d47f471">https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/senate-finance-committee-advances-alex-azars-nomination-to-head-hhs/2018/01/17/db4928c8-fb96-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?utm_term=.7d898d47f471</a></div><div>
</div><div>The Senate Finance Committee approved Alex Azar as the next health and human services secretary on Wednesday, voting 15-12 to send his nomination to the Senate floor.The vote followed party lines, with the exception of Democratic Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), who supported the nomination.If approved by the full Senate, Azar, a former executive for the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company, would succeed President Trump’s first HHS secretary, Tom Price. The former congressman from Georgia resigned under pressure in September during an investigation of his use of private charter planes at taxpayer expense to attend official events.“Mr. Azar is well-credentialed to lead such a critical department at a time America’s health care system is facing difficult challenges,” Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said in a written statement.“He continues to demonstrate that he has what it takes to help alleviate problems caused by Obamacare, all while bolstering and improving Medicare and Medicaid.”<div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Azar told Finance members during the Jan. 9 hearing on his nomination that prescription drug prices cost too much but that he was not in favor of broad government action to curb prices. His other priorities, he said, would be making health care more affordable, rewarding Medicare providers for promoting good health and combating the opioid epidemic.The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), again criticized Azar Wednesday for his “documented history of raising drug prices” while he worked at Lilly. He said that Azar didn’t offer “a single example” of the company lowering prices during Azar’s tenure, which included five years as president of its largest affiliate, Lilly USA.<div class="moat-trackable pb-f-theme-normal pb-f-dehydrate-false pb-f-async-true full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-page-newsletter-inLine injected-by-front-end" moat-id="page/newsletter-inLine|national" data-chain-name="no-name" data-feature-name="no-name" data-feature-id="page/newsletter-inLine" data-pb-fingerprint="0fDFtBwNlqj" id="fpn9kH1k5O5TCq" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 18px; animation: fadein 2s; float: none; width: 653.797px; position: relative; padding: 0px !important;"><div class="border-bottom- border-bottom- nl-top-hairline" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="newsletter-inline-unit codedNewsletter" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; margin: -10px 0px;"><div class="clear" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both;">Carper explained his vote in a statement late Wednesday afternoon. “I am still evaluating Mr. Azar’s nomination,” he said, “and, while I am concerned about his perspective on Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and his knowledge on women’s health issues, I believe he is qualified for consideration by the full Senate.”Azar served in the agency during George W. Bush’s administration as both the department’s general counsel and deputy secretary.He left Lilly in early 2017 and formed a consulting firm. He told a different Senate committee in late November that he no longer owned Lilly stock.Read more:<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/senate-finance-committee-to-evaluate-alex-azar-to-be-the-next-hhs-secretary/2018/01/08/e6d790c0-f48f-11e7-b34a-b85626af34ef_story.html?utm_term=.37ddeca28713" shape="rect" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;">Senate Finance Committee evaluates AlexAzar to be the next HHS secretary</a><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-picks-alex-azar-to-lead-the-health-and-human-services-department/2017/11/13/ad6a4e16-c408-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html?utm_term=.91745f0d16c5" shape="rect" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;">Trump picks Alex Azar to lead Health and Human Services</a><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pharma-under-attack-for-drug-prices-started-an-industry-war/2017/12/29/800a3de8-e5bc-11e7-a65d-1ac0fd7f097e_story.html?utm_term=.9ae36f6954df" shape="rect" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;">Pharm, under attack for drug prices, started an industry war</a></div><div></div>=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/drugs/big-pharma-pimps-taxpayers-ny-times">https://www.alternet.org/drugs/big-pharma-pimps-taxpayers-ny-times</a>...The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/opioids-taxpayer-funded-addiction.html&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNERsJAWzUyb32wMTgAjSBwpCNeNGw" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/opioids-taxpayer-funded-addiction.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">editorial </a>did not beat around the bush. After decades of "expanding opioid use by minimizing the dangers of addiction," Pharma will now receive the reward of taxpayer money to undo what it did and reverse the opioid epidemic, writes the New York Times. Imagine the government giving Big Tobacco our tax dollars to reverse the damage it did pushing cigarettes and you see how obscene this is.The new public-private partnership between Pharma and the NIH (and supported by both the FDA and DEA) will explore ways to address the opioid crisis such as "nonaddictive painkillers and new treatments for addiction and overdoses."Not surprisingly, Pharma likes its reward. J. David Haddox, vice president for policy at Purdue Pharma (who makes OxyContin) <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/opioids-taxpayer-funded-addiction.html&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNERsJAWzUyb32wMTgAjSBwpCNeNGw" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/opioids-taxpayer-funded-addiction.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">appreciates</a> the idea of “converting” the opioid market to abuse-deterrent drugs.But the CEOs of Pharma's lobby group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America or PhRMA, and Purdue Pharma do not appreciate the Times' charges.There is no reason Pharma shouldn't be involved in "the long-term solutions" for the opioid crisis writes PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl, calling Pharma operatives "the best minds in science," in a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/opinion/drug-makers-opioids.html&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNEx2Y1q9_bChEy6zkn_KADgrxcY1g" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/opinion/drug-makers-opioids.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">letter </a>to the Times. Craig Landau, CEO of Purdue, appreciates the "regulatory framework to incentivize" Pharma to develop post opioid crisis drugs and writes that Pharma cannot "abandon... pain patients," in a letter to the Times.The NIH partnership is just the latest example of government greasing opioid Pharma's palms. On the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNHoGyQZYq4OA4Rev3RLlDrNSv8S-g" href="https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">same day </a>in 2013 that the FDA announced new Vicodin restrictions, it approved hydrocodone bitartrate-based Zohydro with five to 10 times the abuse potential of OxyContin. The next year the FDA approved Tarrginiq ER while admitting it could cause overdoses and euphoria. In 2015, the FDA approved opioids for children as young as 11.In 2016, Obama signed a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/dea-drug-industry-congress/?utm_term%3D.24f57c87725f&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNFMZCnrrkXuoSRxQAO_tfc-BmiJmg" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/dea-drug-industry-congress/?utm_term=.24f57c87725f" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Pharma-bought</a> law curtailing DEA powers to regulate large opioid sales which bowed to "deep-pocketed chain pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens and drug distribution companies like Cardinal Health and McKesson" <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/politics/opioid-dea-addiction.html&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNE2j1jv5OQHgH0ZGa8xocQQ5J3M5g" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/politics/opioid-dea-addiction.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">wrote </a>the New York Times.Making Money By Hooking People on OpioidsHow did Pharma foster the opioid addiction? By paying medical groups to change pain condition guidelines so that opioids were the first choice for many conditions. (Notice how pain has become the "fifth vital sign" and medical personnel always ask you now "Are you in pain?" We have Pharma to thank for that.)Pharma also fostered the epidemic by pushing the long-term use of opioids despite zero <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNHoGyQZYq4OA4Rev3RLlDrNSv8S-g" href="https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">studies</a> including the Cochrane Collection showing long-term safety or effectiveness. Finally, Pharma did it by telling doctors and patients that opioids aren't addictive like the parallel industry Big Tobacco.A <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNEoC9EI0hoObHDn9wNXnYKkH1akJg" href="https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">pain guide</a> supported by the American Geriatrics Society and funded by Janssen (which makes Duragesic, Ultram ER and Nucynta) claims that opioids "allow people with chronic pain to get back to work, run, and play sports," and says that worries patients may get hooked are a "myth.” More than a hundred people a day now die in the U.S. from that myth.According to <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNEoC9EI0hoObHDn9wNXnYKkH1akJg" href="https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/what-big-pharma-does-not-want-you-know-about-opioid-epidemic" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">investigative reporter</a> John Fauber, half the American Geriatrics Society panel’s experts who revised opioid guidelines in 2009 “had financial ties to opioid companies, as paid speakers, consultants or advisers.” What changes did the experts make to the guidelines? “That over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen and naproxen, be used rarely and that doctors instead consider prescribing opioids for all patients with moderate to severe pain,” declared the American Geriatrics Society. The University of Wisconsin’s Pain & Policy Studies Group received $2.5 million from opioid makers, too as the group pushed for––any guesses?––looser opioid use guidelines <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//archive.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/120331689.html/&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNHkDiOdf3sQYDidurtUQETXF4YSyQ" href="https://archive.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/120331689.html/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">writes</a> Fauber.Between 1996 and 2002, Purdue Pharma “funded more than 20,000 pain-related educational programs through direct sponsorship or financial grants and launched a multifaceted campaign to encourage long-term use of [opioid painkillers] for chronic non-cancer pain,“ reports Vox Media. Included in the monetary persuasion was financial support to the American Pain Society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Joint Commission, pain patient groups, and other organizations, writes Vox, which in turn “advocated for more aggressive identification and treatment of pain, especially use of [opioid painkillers].Pharma has got so many people on opioids, an ad for opioid-related constipation ran during the 2016 Super Bowl.Last year, the Los Angeles Times exposed a trove of emails, memos, meeting minutes and sales reports from Purdue Pharma admitting that it falsely marketing OxyContin as a 12-hour med when they knew it was an eight hour med leading the way to overdoses and addiction.Addiction Medicine--Playing Both Sides of the StreetIn the last decade "addiction medicine" has become a boom business with profit margins of over 20 percent. For example, Bain Capital <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.alternet.org/drugs/how-big-pharma-cashing-addiction-alcohol-and-illicit-drugs&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNHD54hRovXObM8OGIVU59CE2dvLFg" href="https://www.alternet.org/drugs/how-big-pharma-cashing-addiction-alcohol-and-illicit-drugs" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">paid </a>$720 million for CRC Health in 2006 and sold it for $1.18 billion to Acadia Healthcare Company Inc. in 2014. Today Acadia <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.acadiahealthcare.com/locations&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNEAG5SNSQ7QhrhlK0vL8SgazM-rjQ" href="https://www.acadiahealthcare.com/locations" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">boasts </a>576 behavioral healthcare facilities with approximately 17,300 beds in 39 states.Unlike traditional "rehab" which de-emphasized prescription drugs and promoted abstinence, current rehab, whether private or taxpayer funded, is an unapologetic Pharma enterprise and profit center. Pharma has recast addiction as a psychiatric condition and unless expensive psychiatric drugs are prescribed, rehab will be not be reimbursed two psychiatrists working in the field have told me. This further raises health care costs and taxes.Addiction medicine, is, unsurprisingly, enmeshed with Pharma. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.pfizer.com/files/responsibility/grants_contributions/2015_Q4_TIG_03072016.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNGN4Q7H7v4j4lxI7fbmbQU6K8BN9w" href="https://www.pfizer.com/files/responsibility/grants_contributions/2015_Q4_TIG_03072016.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> received</a> $47,500 from Pfizer  <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.pfizer.com/sites/default/files/responsibility/grants_contributions/pfizer_us_grants_cc_q4_2013.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNGVqbtEYhkPSN14PQLIyy7NKhA3-Q" href="https://www.pfizer.com/sites/default/files/responsibility/grants_contributions/pfizer_us_grants_cc_q4_2013.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">between</a> 2013 and 2016 according to Pfizer reports. It published a<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.asam.org/docs/advocacy/use-of-buprenorphine-in-office-based-treatment-of-opioid-addiction.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1511453665787000&usg=AFQjCNE1oJYBhXXL73p45wie5SKF1ZfEDA" href="https://www.asam.org/docs/advocacy/use-of-buprenorphine-in-office-based-treatment-of-opioid-addiction.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> consensus statement</a> in the December 2011 Journal of Addictive Medicine titled, "Statement of the American Society of Addiction Medicine Consensus Panel on the Use of Buprenorphine in Office-Based Treatment of Opioid Addiction," that was supported "by an unrestricted educational grant to ASAM from Reckitt-Benckiser Pharmaceutics Inc, manufacturer of Subutex and Suboxone." No conflicts there.Board of directors at the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.alternet.org/drugs/The%2520American%2520Academy%2520of%2520Addiction%2520Psychiatry%2520(AAAP&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNHCZ8vxsahBEvLpHEEYLzAdujUk-w" href="https://www.alternet.org/drugs/The%20American%20Academy%20of%20Addiction%20Psychiatry%20(AAAP" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry</a> (AAAP) have financial links to Pharma including three <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.aaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-AM-Program-Final.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNHc2F9pkswokdJw4gmA20xYM2j2EA" href="https://www.aaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-AM-Program-Final.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">who actually serve </a>on <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.aaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-AM-Program-Final.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNHc2F9pkswokdJw4gmA20xYM2j2EA" href="https://www.aaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-AM-Program-Final.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">drug</a> makers’ speaker boards.Like the new Pharma/NIH partnership, these Pharma-funded groups also receive our tax dollars. The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.aaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-AM-Program-Final.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNHc2F9pkswokdJw4gmA20xYM2j2EA" href="https://www.aaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-AM-Program-Final.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">program</a> for AAAP’s 25th Annual Meeting thanks four government for their financial support: the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.For opioid addiction, these groups push buprenorpine, marketed as Suboxone, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.alternet.org/drugs/how-big-pharma-cashing-addiction-alcohol-and-illicit-drugs&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNG35-biZ1oQ-leW1vTatJs3gdP05A" href="https://www.alternet.org/drugs/how-big-pharma-cashing-addiction-alcohol-and-illicit-drugs" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">selling</a> for $560 at CVS and $553 at Target for a 30-day supply last year.Not surprisingly, buprenorpine has its own Pharma marketing group. The National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment (NAABT), which <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.naabt.org/about_us.cfm&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNHWaOi936-sbC3UfCM8iKyo408nnw" href="https://www.naabt.org/about_us.cfm" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">admits</a> it has "received donations from pharmaceutical companies" says its mission is to "Educate the public about the disease of opioid addiction and the buprenorphine treatment option; help reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with patients with addiction disorders; and serve as a conduit connecting patients in need of treatment to buprenorphine treatment providers."Intended to replace opioid/heroin addiction, Suboxone is notoriously difficult to quit and has its own abuse potential. Statistics "show sharp increases in buprenorphine seizures by law enforcement, in reports to poison centers, in emergency room visits for the nonmedical use of the drug and in pediatric hospitalizations for accidental ingestions," <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/health/in-demand-in-clinics-and-on-the-street-bupe-can-be-savior-or-menace.html&source=gmail&ust=1511453665788000&usg=AFQjCNELLYN9E3jk061ziHfovvQYa7MVIw" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/health/in-demand-in-clinics-and-on-the-street-bupe-can-be-savior-or-menace.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">wrote</a> the New York Times.When Big Tobacco was busted for lying to consumers that its products were neither addictive or deadly, it was forced to pay $206 billion in the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Provisions include paying states, in perpetuity, for some of the medical costs of people with smoking-related illnesses. When Big Pharma caused a similar scourge it paid nothing. Worse, it is now receiving millions to "fix" the crisis it started by selling even more drugs.Martha Rosenberg is an investigative health reporter and the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1616145935/counterpunchmaga" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none">"Born With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks and Hacks Pimp the Public Health</a> (Random House)."opioidCHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: Well, it’s very interesting. So, you know, I had read quite a bit about Purdue Pharma, which had manufactured OxyContin and which, in 2007, had to plead guilty to criminal charges for what was called criminally misbranding a prescription drug. And they had to pay a huge fine, and three of their top executives went down. And there had been a ton of writing about that, but almost no writing about the fact that the company was actually 100 percent owned by one family, and that family filled more than half of the board seats and actually supplied top executives for the company.You know, one thing that kind of emerged is that when they signed onto this huge settlement, which got a ton of press in 2007, it seemed like the top leaders of the company took the fall, because the CEO at the time had to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. But he wasn’t the CEO during the period covered by the settlement or during the crucial period of OxyContin’s promotion and marketing. During that period, the top executive was actually a member of the Sackler family who owned the company. And yet the Sackler name appeared nowhere in the guilty plea. It was like a hundred pages. It appeared all over this other document that was attached, which was a nonprosecution agreement. And so, basically, the government said, “We’re not going to prosecute any of these 200 entities related to the Sackler family.”AMY GOODMAN: So, Christopher Glazek, tell us the story of the Sackler family, their rise, the rise of OxyContin. Go back decades.CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: Sure. So, the Sacklers were basically three brothers from Brooklyn who were—came from a Jewish immigrant family. And they got their start, really—I mean, the eldest brother, Arthur Sackler—in medical advertising. So he was a really important pioneer in the field of medical, and specifically pharmaceutical, advertising. He was one of the first people ever inducted into the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame, actually.So, basically, when he came on the scene in the '40s, there really wasn't much pharmaceutical advertising. There were these door-to-door salesmen. They were called “detail men,” and they would basically try to push their drugs on doctors. What Arthur realized is that you could use print advertising to reach a much larger number of doctors more efficiently. And he was actually the first person to convince the Journal of American Medicine to insert a color brochure advertising a particular drug, which, at that time, was an antibiotic—and then actually got involved in this big scandal about overprescription of antibiotics, you know, another public health problem. His big, huge first influx of cash came with Valium, because he was the one who designed the marketing campaign for Roche, which was the manufacturer, and he made Valium the most widely prescribed drug in America.AMY GOODMAN: What was his trick there?CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: So the trick, basically, was that, you know, Valium—there was another drug that had already been on the market that was the same as Valium. It was called Librium. I mean, almost indistinguishable. And so it was like this big question: Well, how are we going to market this one? Librium had been marketed pretty narrowly for a specific anxiety function. His idea was to take Valium, a new drug with a new name, and market it for every kind of problem. And so he kind of—they played with this concept called “psychic tension,” which was purported to be the source of indigestion, of depression, of sleep problems, of restless leg syndrome. And so—AMY GOODMAN: It was the word before “stress.”CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: Yes, right. It was kind of like what we now think of maybe as stress. You know, so he was, in this way, able to vastly expand the range of potential patients and indications, and, in that way, made the first $100 million drug.NERMEEN SHAIKH: And what kind of use did Valium have versus Librium?CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: So, I mean, it was used by people who were suffering kind of what are called “somatic problems,” so different kind of physical manifestations which may or may not have their root in something related to anxiety. Valium was just narrowly targeted—or, sorry, Librium was narrowly targeted to people who had like a specific kind of anxiety issue, which at that time was not quite the thing that it is today.NERMEEN SHAIKH: So Valium was prescribed much, much more than Librium—CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: Yes.NERMEEN SHAIKH: —or Librium.CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK: Yeah, way, way, way more. And it became, actually, the most prescribed medication of all time, you know, at that time.../.= ...==

manhattan: ==

kept promise not to run for 3rd, rev door:

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The <a href="http://globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=ifgGrAJGxZHJ0Cug2wOuNfP052F0ypDRa2od4h56NaDT7pSaFjpo8WhvWBYrAkoexv0JD8P-9Ligc8oeUcRoJy2zk3Fu2mjV2y5SrjqLyTs%3D" rel="nofollow" title="Manhattan Institute" style=" text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Manhattan Institute</a> is proud to announce former U.S. Sen. and physician <a href="http://globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=Peos0FF9Fzb9IxtSAVLFHUzhey8HU2BdMjx3kn5oGqF7wZa6o8Dr-I_RGZmiTbNa06TDTtRjZiCeB84suXXPNchWwcbbIDT3C-9ZlO1QbsRpunWCzD9-1E9ud8ax5kes" rel="nofollow" title="Dr. Tom Coburn" style=" text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Dr. Tom Coburn</a> as a senior fellow in health policy. Dr. Coburn's role will expand his work as an advisor to the Institute's <a href="http://globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=lZcxGMyJ-TfwMOFZJqixkqh4Yurzihd5vCWcZ9gpQrH9JOnwOtAuATxT7huDZxKl8ti6UWdSKzltzKQK5pSb2qv8VsqVbmYMYjdgMpy5nTY%3D" rel="nofollow" title="Project FDA" style=" text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Project FDA</a>, an initiative promoting reforms to assist the FDA in meeting 21st century health care challenges.

Dr. Coburn's career includes two terms in the U.S. Senate representing the state of Oklahoma from 2005 to 2015, where he was a ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security. He also served three terms in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001.

Dr. Coburn practiced as an obstetrician after graduating from the University of Oklahoma Medical School. He is a three-time cancer survivor, having been previously diagnosed with melanoma, prostate and colon cancer.

"It is an honor for us to welcome Dr. Coburn as a senior fellow with the Institute," said Larry Mone, President of the Manhattan Institute. "For decades, he has worked tirelessly and selflessly on behalf of patients, and has been a leading advocate for bringing innovative ideas to health care. Together with Dr. Coburn, the Manhattan Institute's Project FDA will continue to focus on blue-sky reform efforts that bring faster, safer cures to patients."

<div style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://www.manhattan-institute.org/expert/paul-howard</div>

<h3 class="r" style=" font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.heritage.org/node/10579/print-display" style=" cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">FDA Reform: A Prescription for More and Better Drugs and Medical ...</a></h3>

<div class="f kv SWb" style=" height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="Rm" style=" font-style: normal;">www.heritage.org/node/10579/print-display</cite>

</li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2o8Jk7GMJlcJ:www.heritage.org/node/10579/print-display+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"> </a></li>

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<div class="slp f"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2o8Jk7GMJlcJ:www.heritage.org/node/10579/print-display+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">by A Abbott - ‎</a><a class="fl" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?biw=1600&bih=770&bav=on.2,or.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&lr&cites=18036110841386495796" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer;">Cited by 1</a></div>

[3] When they do bring forth pharmaceutical treatments, drug companies must ..... An “FDA Report Card” commissioned by the Manhattan Institute[45] finds wide ...</div>

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<h3 class="r" style=" font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/prescription-pulse/2017/05/pharma-companies-return-to-the-white-house-220191" style=" cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Pharma companies return to the White House - POLITICO</a></h3>

</li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pebqQWrkLqcJ:www.politico.com/tipsheets/prescription-pulse/2017/05/pharma-companies-return-to-the-white-house-220191+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"> </a></li>

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<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pebqQWrkLqcJ:www.politico.com/tipsheets/prescription-pulse/2017/05/pharma-companies-return-to-the-white-house-220191+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">May 8, 2017 - Gottlieb gets his Senate vote for FDA commisioner — User fee markup ... she covered all angles of pharmaceutical policy from clinical trials to .... PhRMA ROLLS OUT NEW MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA — The PhRMA board convenes in ... He heard from the American Action Forum, theManhattan Institute, the ...</a></div>

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<h3 class="r" style=" font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pebqQWrkLqcJ:www.politico.com/tipsheets/prescription-pulse/2017/05/pharma-companies-return-to-the-white-house-220191+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">[PDF]</a><a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/fda_05.pdf" style=" cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">P FD AR - Manhattan Institute</a></h3>

</li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uy_K9RqkjO4J:https://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/fda_05.pdf+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"> </a></li>

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<a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uy_K9RqkjO4J:https://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/fda_05.pdf+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Published by Manhattan Institute ... are required for FDA approval of most drugs. ... contrast. We find that the current Phase III trial system forces pharmaceutical and .... Source: PhRMA Annual Member Survey, 2011; DiMasi et al., J Health Econ ...</a></div>

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<h3 class="r" style=" font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.phrma.org/search?incmode=keywordsearch&keyword=policy-paper%20fda-universal-symbol&skip=150" style=" cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">POLICY-PAPER FDA-UNIVERSAL-SYMBOL Search Results | PhRMA</a></h3>

</li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7befWFihrREJ:www.phrma.org/search%3Fincmode%3Dkeywordsearch%26keyword%3Dpolicy-paper%2520fda-universal-symbol%26skip%3D150+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"> </a></li>

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<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7befWFihrREJ:www.phrma.org/search%3Fincmode%3Dkeywordsearch%26keyword%3Dpolicy-paper%2520fda-universal-symbol%26skip%3D150+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">If you have questions or concerns about a pharmaceutical product, please ... Howard joined theManhattan Institute in 2000, working as deputy director of the ...</a></div>

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<h3 class="r" style=" font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.phrma.org/biography/paul-howard-ph-d" style=" cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">BIOGRAPHY PAUL-HOWARD-PH-D Search Results | PhRMA</a></h3>

</li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8eOVXm3zGtoJ:www.phrma.org/biography/paul-howard-ph-d+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"> </a></li>

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<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8eOVXm3zGtoJ:www.phrma.org/biography/paul-howard-ph-d+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">... Disease, Economic Impact, FDA, Insurance Coverage, Intellectual Property, International ... She does this with the help of her Medicare Part D prescription drug ... Hughes Medical Institute investigator, advancing to professor of Medicine, and ... at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).</a></div>

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<h3 class="r" style=" font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/06/phrma-companies-push-hard-on-house-bill-to-ease-testing-of-new-drugs/" style=" cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">PhRMA companies push hard on House bill to ease testing of new drugs</a></h3>

</li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2aFJH7l0K6AJ:https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/06/phrma-companies-push-hard-on-house-bill-to-ease-testing-of-new-drugs/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"> </a></li>

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<a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2aFJH7l0K6AJ:https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/06/phrma-companies-push-hard-on-house-bill-to-ease-testing-of-new-drugs/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Jun 16, 2015 - Pharmaceutical interests are pushing hard in favor of a bill that could speed up Food andDrug Administration (FDA) approval of new drugs. ... along with Manhattan Institute scholar Paul Howard, wrote in support of the bill in ...</a></div>

</div>

==

<a href="http://www.alternet.org/drugs/trump-drug-czar-nominess-tough-colombian-peasants-not-big-pharma">http://www.alternet.org/drugs/trump-drug-czar-nominess-tough-colombian-peasants-not-big-pharma</a>

Trump will name Pennsylvania Congressman Tom Marino (R) to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP—the drug czar's office), <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pennsylvania-congressman-to-be-named-drug-czar-by-donald-trump/?" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">CBS News reported Tuesday</a>. Marino's legacy of legislative achievements around drug policy, however, raise serious questions about whether he is the right choice.

The White House had no official comment Tuesday, but sources told CBS News Marino is in the final stages of completing his paperwork and an official announcement would come soon. Marino's office had no comment.

Marino is a former prosecutor now in his third term in the House, and will step down from the Congress to take up his new position. His rural congressional district has seen rising concern about heroin and opioids, and he serves on the House bipartisan committee combating the opioid epidemic.

He has authored two recent successful drug policy bills, but both have their critics. The 2016 <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s32" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Transnational Drug Trafficking Act</a> expands the ability of US prosecutors to use extraterritoriality to go after international drug traffickers, but while the law is touted as aiming at "kingpins," but <a href="http://extract.suntimes.com/news/10/153/19836/new-united-states-drug-war-policy-expands-extradition-transnational-drug-trafficking-act" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">observers</a> south of the border have argued that the law "targets people on the lowest rungs of the trafficking ladder, i.e. Colombia's coca farmers."

Marino was also an author and key supporter of the 2016 <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/483/text" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act</a>, which supporters characterized as balancing the needs of patients, the pharmaceutical industry, and law enforcement, but which <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/the-dea-slowed-enforcement-while-the-opioid-epidemic-grew-out-of-control/2016/10/22/aea2bf8e-7f71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html?utm_term=.37c95211b0a9" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">critics describe</a> as a means of undercutting the DEA's ability to hold pharmaceutical drug distributors accountable for the diversion of large amounts of opioid pain relievers.

In the fight over that bill, Marino, as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Regulatory Reform, clashed repeatedly with DEA Office of Diversion Control head Joseph Rannazzisi. In a 2014 conference call with congressional staffers, Rannazzisi warned that the bill, backed by a pharmaceutical industry lobbying campaign, would protect corporations engaged in criminal activity.

"This bill passes the way it’s written we won’t be able to get immediate suspension orders, we won’t be able to stop the hemorrhaging of these drugs out of these bad pharmacies and these bad corporations," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/the-dea-slowed-enforcement-while-the-opioid-epidemic-grew-out-of-control/2016/10/22/aea2bf8e-7f71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html?utm_term=.37c95211b0a9" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Rannazzisi recalled</a> telling them. "What you’re doing is filing a bill that will protect defendants in our cases."

Rannazzisi's opposition infuriated Marino, who ripped into the veteran DEA official's boss, then-DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart at a congressional hearing later that year.

"It is my understanding that Joe Rannazzisi, a senior DEA official, has publicly accused we sponsors of the bill of, quote, 'supporting criminals,' unquote,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/the-dea-slowed-enforcement-while-the-opioid-epidemic-grew-out-of-control/2016/10/22/aea2bf8e-7f71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html?utm_term=.37c95211b0a9" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Marino said</a>. “This offends me immensely."

A week later, Marino and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) demanded that the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General investigate Rannazzis for "intimidating" members of Congress. Rannazzissi was replaced and retired in October 2015.

If his legislative legacy is any indication, Marino is will be the sort of drug czar who is tough on Colombian peasant farmers, but not so tough on major US pharmaceutical opioid manufacturers.

That's good enough for anti-marijuana crusader and former ONDCP advisor Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (Project SAM). "My understanding is that Tom has a deep understanding of the issue and is excited to get started," he enthused.

But it's not good enough for anyone interested in a progressive approach to drug policy.

==

tauzin

==

Soaring drug prices already had customers unhappy. The pharmaceutical industry hardly needed a new poster boy to add volume and passion to the complaints.

But that’s just what it got last week when Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, made a name for himself after he hiked the price of a drug for AIDS and cancer patients by more than 4,000 percent. Now, some lawmakers are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/09/28/democrats-demand-answers-from-another-drug-company-that-jacked-up-prices/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_wonk" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">scrutinizing</a> another company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, for increasing the price of two heart drugs this year.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, have both released plans for <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/fighting-to-lower-prescription-drug-prices/" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">lowering</a> prescription drug <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/p/briefing/factsheets/2015/09/21/hillary-clinton-plan-for-lowering-prescription-drug-costs/" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">prices</a>.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, acutely aware of its image problem – 72 percent of Americans say prescription drug costs are unreasonable, according to a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-americans-want-government-to-bring-down-prescription-drug-prices/" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">recent</a> Kaiser Family Foundation poll – promptly<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/09/24/why-big-pharma-hates-martin-shkreli-too/" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">distanced</a> itself from Turing (whose CEO has now said he will lower the price of Daraprim, the drug involved in the controversy). And the powerful industry trade group itself is in reboot mode with a new president and CEO, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=8861" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Stephen Ubl</a>.

There’s work to be done, for sure, but the industry has never lacked for resources to amplify its voice in politics and policy making. Since 1999, pharmaceuticals/health products has poured more money annually into lobbying <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2015&indexType=i" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">than any other industry</a>, including <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=H04&year=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">$229 million</a> last year alone. PhRMA led the group, plowing <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000504&year=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">$16.6 million</a> into helping advance drugmakers’ priorities in Washington.

Pharmaceutical company employees and PACs have also given big to politicians. During the last presidential cycle, federal candidates, political parties and outside spending groups received <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/totals.php?cycle=2014&ind=h04" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">$51 million</a> – the largest-ever total from the industry. In last year’s midterms, it provided $32.1 million.

What’s been the return on this substantial investment? For one thing, dodging a number of bullets bearing PhRMA’s name. One of the industry’s greatest victories has been preventing Medicare from being able to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. That was ensured when Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which expanded Medicare to cover outpatient prescription drugs. The law also prohibited drug re-importation from Canada and Europe, where prices are often lower.

When Barack Obama was campaigning for president, he promised to resist the drug lobby. But he signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010 <a href="https://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2010/02/12/the-legacy-of-billy-tauzin-the-white-house-phrma-deal/" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">without provisions</a> allowing re-importation of drugs or giving Medicare the ability to negotiate prices.Billy Tauzin, who was a Republican representative from Louisiana at the time, helped push the bill through the House. He soon after left Congress and was named president and CEO of PhRMA, which came with an annual salary of about $2 million.

In 2009, at the height of the debate in Congress over passing Obamacare, lobbying peaked for drugmakers at <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=H04&year=2009" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">$273 million</a>. PhRMA and one of its members, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000138&year=2009" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Pfizer Inc</a>, each spent over $25 million to lobby that year.

Running for re-election in 2012, Obama was the biggest individual recipient of pharmaceutical dollars, pulling in <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/indus.php?id=N00009638&cycle=2012" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">$2 million</a> from the industry, which made up one of his top donor bases. His general election opponent, Mitt Romney, received almost as much at <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=h04&cycle=2012&recipdetail=A&mem=Y&sortorder=U" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">$1.98 million</a>. Obama was even more popular with the industry in <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=h04&cycle=2008&recipdetail=A&mem=Y&sortorder=U" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">2008</a>, receiving $2.5 million, while John McCain received just $800,000.

This year, Obama <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/us/obama-proposes-that-medicare-be-given-the-right-to-negotiate-the-cost-of-drugs.html?_r=0" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">suggested</a> that lawmakers allow Medicare to negotiate down drug prices like the Department of Veterans Affairs does. But Marcia Angell, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and the former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, said the president missed his chance when he was newly elected and Congress was under Democratic control.

“That was the time to act, but he didn’t,” said Angell, a strong critic of the pharmaceutical industry.

The vast majority of people surveyed in the Kaiser poll, 83 percent, want Medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices. Seventy-six percent want a limit on how much companies can charge for drugs that treat serious illnesses.

Clinton’s plan, like Sanders’, would allow Medicare to bargain over drug prices. John Castellani, PhRMA’s current president and CEO, quickly fired back after Clinton released her plan last month, saying in a <a href="http://www.phrma.org/media-releases/phrma-clinton-proposal-would-turn-back-the-clock-on-medical-innovation" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">statement</a> that her “sweeping and far-reaching proposals would restrict patients’ access to medicines, result in fewer new treatments for patients, cost countless jobs across the country and erode our nation’s standing as the world leader in biomedical innovation.”

Recently, pharmaceutical companies have set their sights on the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/6" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">21st Century Cures Act</a>, a bill to <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/06/phrma-companies-push-hard-on-house-bill-to-ease-testing-of-new-drugs/" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">accelerate</a> new drug approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Castellani has <a href="http://www.phrma.org/media-releases/phrma-statement-on-house-passage-of-21st-century-cures-act" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">said</a> that the legislation would help “ensure biomedical advances continue and are available to the patients who need them to live longer, healthier lives.”

Critics like Diana Zuckerman, the president of the National Center for Health Research, argue that speeding up the process means smaller studies that fail to show whether a drug correlates with not only short-term changes – like, for example, a tumor shrinking over a few months – but also living longer, spending less time in the hospital and experiencing a better quality of life.

But the industry has plenty of friends on Capitol Hill: During the last election cycle, pharmaceuticals employees and PACs gave <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=h04&cycle=2014&recipdetail=A&mem=Y&sortorder=U" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">hundreds of thousands of dollars</a> each to GOP congressional leaders: (soon-to-be former) House Speaker <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00003675&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">John Boehner</a> (R-Ohio) ($255,800), House Majority Leader <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00028152&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Kevin McCarthy</a> (R-Calif.) ($253,500), Senate Majority Leader <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00003389&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Mitch McConnell</a> (R-Ky.) ($363,373) and Senate Majority Whip <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00024852&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">John Cornyn</a> (R-Texas) ($208,050). Rep. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00004133&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Fred Upton</a> (R-Mich.), who introduced the 21st Century Cures Act, received $302,700.

The largest Democratic recipients included Sens. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00000270&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Ed Markey</a> (D-Mass.) ($310,050) and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00035267&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Cory Booker</a> (D-N.J.) ($308,150), who are both members of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, one of the congressional committees that can <a href="http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/jurisdiction" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">impact</a> the industry. Former Sen. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00029617&cycle=2014" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Kay Hagan</a> (D-N.C.), who lost reelection, accepted $284,449. The pharmaceutical industry <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article24764125.html" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">is an important part</a> of North Carolina’s economy.

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000138" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Pfizer Inc</a>, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000391" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Amgen Inc</a> and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000022105" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">McKesson Corp</a> were the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?cycle=2014&ind=h04" style=" background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">biggest donors</a> during the 2014 cycle, with each contributing over $1 million.

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<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/10/pharmaceutical-industry-under-scrutiny-for-prices-has-history-of-big-political-wins/"> https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/10/pharmaceutical-industry-under-scrutiny-for-prices-has-history-of-big-political-wins/</a>

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see also J&J:

<h2 dir="ltr" style=" margin: 0.8em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Drug Corporation’s Free Speech “Rights” Trump FDA’s Approval Process</h2>

<a href="https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-3">https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-3</a>

In early August 2015 a U.S. District Court judge in New York City held that the First Amendment protects a drug corporation’s right to market drugs to doctors for purposes not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (Amarin Pharma, Inc vs. U.S. FDA).

“This is huge,” said Jacob Sherkow, an associate professor at New York Law School.  “… This is the first time that any federal court has held in such a clear, full-throated way that off-label marketing is protected by the First Amendment."<a href="https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-3#1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">1</a>

The decision technically applies only to the district in which it was made and will likely be appealed by the agency.  The FDA has limited pharmaceutical corporations’ claims about its products to only the approved “intended use.”  Any additional uses for the drug, known as “off label” uses, must undergo clinical trials before approval.<a href="https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-3#2" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">2</a>

Amarin Pharma Inc. won this ruling in regard to its drug Vascepa used to treat high fat levels in the blood.  Doctors are being advised by the company to prescribe it to patients with lower blood fat levels.  The drug was neither tested nor approved for such use.  The court said the “off label” promotion must rely on “truthful” information, a condition that critics believe is open to interpretation.  Companies could cherry-pick the studies to put their product in a favorable light.<a href="https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-3#3" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">3</a>

Harvard Medical School professor, Jerry Avron found the decision very troubling. “It’s a big push onto… a very steep, slippery slope toward removing government’s authority to limit the claims that drug companies can make about the effectiveness of their products.”

This ruling by a federal court is another example of corporations claiming their rights of legal “personhood”-- in this case, the right of protected speech, and commercial speech at that.  It reminds us again how important it is for us natural persons to understand the consequences of our corporate creations, mere legal fictions, having been granted such powers.

How can we protect ourselves from risk-laden drug marketing schemes when we have no authority to prevent such corporate assaults at the doctor’s office or behind the prescription counter?  The regulatory agency at issue is, once again, behind events not in charge of them.

<h3 dir="ltr" style=" margin: 0.8em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What is the purpose of the First Amendment and to whom or what institutions does it apply?  Is it meant for political speech? Should it reach to commercial speech?  </h3>

Alexander Meiklejohn, a scholar of the First Amendment, wrote that freedom of speech “does not intend to guarantee men freedom to say what some private interest pays them to say for its own advantage.  It intends only to make men free to say what, as citizens, they think, what they believe, about the general welfare.”<a href="https://movetoamend.org/corporate-rule-examples-3#4" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">4</a>

Clearly these are matters that call for people’s attention and engagement.  In our commercial culture driven by corporate profit, an increasing number of people are contesting the growing power of private interests over public interests.

Move to Amend invites us to act against such private, corporate takings of people’s rightful authority and to join its work toward democratic possibility.

<a name="1" id="1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1.</a> National Constitution Center - <a href="http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2015/08/constitution-check-is-the-first-amendment-a-threat-to-the-safety-of-medicines/" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2015/08/constitution-check-is-the-first-amendment-a-threat-to-the-safety-of-medicines/</a>

<a name="2" id="2" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2.</a> The New York Times - <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/business/dealbook/fdas-off-label-drug-policy-leads-to-free-speech-fight.html?r=0" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/business/dealbook/fdas-off-label-drug-policy-leads-to-free-speech-fight.html?_r=0</a>

<a name="3" id="3" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3.</a> The New York Times - <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/business/court-forbids-fda-from-blocking-truthful-promotion-of-drug.html?r=0" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/business/court-forbids-fda-from-blocking-truthful-promotion-of-drug.html?_r=0</a>

<a name="4" id="4" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4.</a> Alexander Meiklejohn, Political Freedom: the Constitutional Powers of the People, New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960.

<a name="5" id="5" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5.</a> Exploring Constitutional conflicts -<a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/commercial.htm" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/commercial.htm</a>

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<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Billy_Tauzin" title="Billy Tauzin">Billy Tauzin</a>: Former chair of the the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Energy_and_Commerce_Committee" title="Energy and Commerce Committee" class="mw-redirect">Energy and Commerce Committee</a>, which had oversight of the drug industry, who after retiring from Congress in late 2004 started as head of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a> in January 2005.

<h2>Legislative history</h2>

According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times" title="New York Times" class="mw-redirect">New York Times</a> December 17, 2004 editorial <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tauzin" title="Billy Tauzin">W.J."Billy" Tauzin</a>, the Louisiana Republican who chaired the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.House_Committee_on_Energy_and_Commerce" title="U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce" class="mw-redirect">Energy and Commerce Committee</a> from 2001 until February 4, 2004 was one of the chief architects of the new Medicare law.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-NYT_2004_dec_17-6">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-USNews_2004-7">[7]</a> In 2004 when Tauzin was appointed as chief lobbyist for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America" title="Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a> (PhRMA), the trade association and lobby group for the drug industry with a "rumored salary of $2 million a year,"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-NYT_2004_dec_17-6">[6]</a> drawing criticism from a Washington-based <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Citizen" title="Public Citizen">Public Citizen</a>, the consumer advocacy group. They claimed that Tauzin "may have been negotiating for the lobbying job while writing the Medicare legislation."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-USNews_2004-7">[7]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,_and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-washingtonpost_dec_2004-8">[8]</a>

"It's a sad commentary on politics in Washington that a member of Congress who pushed through a major piece of legislation benefiting the drug industry, gets the job leading that industry."

<div class="templatequotecite"><cite>— Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook 2004</cite></div>

</blockquote>

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-USNews_2004-7">[7]</a>

"I think if seniors want to know why the pharmaceutical companies made out so well at their expense, all they have to do is look at this. This is an abuse of power. This is a conflict of interest."

<div class="templatequotecite"><cite>— House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi 2004</cite></div>

</blockquote>

The bill was debated and negotiated for nearly six months in Congress, and finally passed amid unusual circumstances. Several times in the legislative process the bill had appeared to have failed, but each time was saved when a couple of Congressmen and Senators switched positions on the bill.

The bill was introduced in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives">House of Representatives</a> early on June 25, 2003 as H.R. 1, sponsored by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives">Speaker</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hastert" title="Dennis Hastert">Dennis Hastert</a>. All that day and the next the bill was debated, and it was apparent that the bill would be very divisive. In the early morning of June 27, a floor vote was taken. After the initial electronic vote, the count stood at 214 yeas, 218 nays.

Three Republican representatives then changed their votes. One opponent of the bill, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_J.Istook,Jr." title="Ernest J. Istook, Jr." class="mw-redirect">Ernest J. Istook, Jr.</a> (R-OK-5), changed his vote to "present" upon being told that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.W._Bill_Young" title="C.W. Bill Young" class="mw-redirect">C.W. Bill Young</a> (R-FL-10), who was absent due to a death in the family, would have voted "aye" if he had been present. Next, Republicans <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_Otter" title="Butch Otter">Butch Otter</a> (ID-1) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Ann_Emerson" title="Jo Ann Emerson">Jo Ann Emerson</a> (MO-8) switched their vote to "aye" under pressure from the party leadership. The bill passed by one vote, 216-215.

On June 26, the Senate passed its version of the bill, 76-21. The bills were unified in conference, and on November 21, the bill came back to the House for approval.

The bill came to a vote at 3 a.m. on November 22. After 45 minutes, the bill was losing, 219-215, with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wu" title="David Wu">David Wu</a> (D-OR-1) not voting. Speaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hastert" title="Dennis Hastert">Dennis Hastert</a> and Majority Leader <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLay" title="Tom DeLay">Tom DeLay</a> sought to convince some of dissenting Republicans to switch their votes, as they had in June. Istook, who had always been a wavering vote, consented quickly, producing a 218-216 tally. In a highly unusual move, the House leadership held the vote open for hours as they sought two more votes. Then-Representative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Smith%28U.S.politician%29" title="Nick Smith (U.S. politician)">Nick Smith</a> (R-MI) claimed he was offered campaign funds for his son, who was running to replace him, in return for a change in his vote from "nay" to "yea." After controversy ensued, Smith clarified no explicit offer of campaign funds was made, but that he was offered "substantial and aggressive campaign support" which he had assumed included financial support.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-9">[9]</a>

About 5:50 a.m., convinced Otter and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Franks" title="Trent Franks">Trent Franks</a> (AZ-2) to switch their votes. With passage assured, Wu voted yea as well, and Democrats <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_M.Dooley" title="Calvin M. Dooley" class="mw-redirect">Calvin M. Dooley</a> (CA-20), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Marshall%28U.S.politician%29" title="Jim Marshall (U.S. politician)" class="mw-redirect">Jim Marshall</a> (GA-3) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Scott%28Georgia_politician%29" title="David Scott (Georgia politician)">David Scott</a> (GA-13) changed their votes to the affirmative. But <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Miller%28congressman%29" title="Brad Miller (congressman)" class="mw-redirect">Brad Miller</a> (D-NC-13), and then, Republican <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Culberson" title="John Culberson">John Culberson</a> (TX-7), reversed their votes from "yea" to "nay". The bill passed 220-215.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,_and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-10">[10]</a>

The Democrats cried foul, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Thomas" title="Bill Thomas">Bill Thomas</a>, the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means committee, challenged the result in a gesture to satisfy the concerns of the minority. He subsequently voted to table his own challenge; the tally to table was 210 ayes, 193 noes.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]

The Senate's consideration of the conference report was somewhat less heated, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloture" title="Cloture">cloture</a> on it was invoked by a vote of 70-29.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-11">[11]</a> However, a budget point of order raised by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Daschle" title="Tom Daschle">Tom Daschle</a>, and voted on. As 60 votes were necessary to override it, the challenge was actually considered to have a credible chance of passing.

For several minutes, the vote total was stuck at 58-39, until Senators <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Graham" title="Lindsey Graham">Lindsey Graham</a> (R-SC), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Lott" title="Trent Lott">Trent Lott</a> (R-MS), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Wyden" title="Ron Wyden">Ron Wyden</a> (D-OR) voted in quick succession in favour to pass the vote 61-39.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-12">[12]</a> The bill itself was finally passed 54-44 on November 25, 2003, and was signed into law by the President on December 8.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-13">[13]</a>

<h2>Costs</h2>

Initially, the net cost of the program was projected at $400 billion for the ten-year period between 2004 and 2013. Administration official <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A.Scully" title="Thomas A. Scully">Thomas Scully</a> instructed analyst Richard Foster not to tell Congress of Foster's finding that the cost would actually be over $500 billion. One month after passage, the administration estimated that the net cost of the program over the period between 2006 (the first year the program started paying benefits) and 2015 would be $534 billion.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-14">[14]</a> As of February 2009, the projected net cost of the program over the 2006 to 2015 period was $549.2 billion.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,Improvement,_and_Modernization_Act#cite_note-15">[15]</a>

<a href="http://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-insurance/info-11-2009/part_3_the_doughnut_hole.html">http://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-insurance/info-11-2009/part_3_the_doughnut_hole.html</a>

==

==

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/04/martin-shkreli-turns-his-trolling-of-congress-up-to-11/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/04/martin-shkreli-turns-his-trolling-of-congress-up-to-11/</a>

In the days leading up to his big meeting with Congress, disgraced former drug executive Martin Shkreli couldn't wait to, as he put it, "school Congress."

"I would love to talk to Congress. I would berate them. I would insult them," said the former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who became America's most hated man in September when it was revealed his company bought a potentially life-saving drug and jacked up the price of it by more than 5,000 percent.

Shkreli is now under investigation for securities fraud unrelated to the price-gouging, but that hasn't stopped the 32-year-old from tweeting, live-streaming from his New York City apartment, and baiting Congress in media interviews. Lawmakers were no doubt just as eager to school him and be seen telling him what's what in a public forum.

It was classic Shkreli as the world knows him -- bold, unapologetic, brash, arrogant.

And then as Shkreli sat down along with four other witnesses Thursday in front of the House oversight committee to testify on prescription drug price-gouging, he suddenly, and uncharacteristically, shut his mouth.

[‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli refuses to testify at congressional hearing]

Shkreli, with a smirk that seems to be permanently etched onto his face, pleaded the Fifth Amendment, invoking his constitutional right to stay silent and avoid self-incrimination.

Lawmakers were prepared for this; Shkreli had said earlier this week he planned to follow his lawyers' advice and plead the Fifth. "They just want it to be a circus," he told Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo.

Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and his buddy and former prosecutor Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) had a good-cop, bad-cop routine ready to go. It was a made-for-TV courtroom interrogation, but Shkreli kept his mouth shut.

Then they handed it over to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, who tried to shame Shkreli into talking.

[Why did Elijah Cummings pass on a Senate run? To take on the Martin Shkrelis of the world.]

But nothing worked, and after about 10 minutes, Chaffetz reluctantly excused Shkreli, who after weeks of baiting Congress for a showdown, had the last word.

Here's the fascinating exchange:

After the other witnesses, including two pharmaceutical officials and one from Shkreli's former company, testified about their company programs to help patients afford expensive drugs, Chaffetz turned to Shkreli and noted that Shkreli hadn't submitted any written testimony.

Does he wish to give any now? Chaffetz asked

==

pfizer NJ allergan scam irish allergan tax haven, allready offshores profits;

40 min david k johnston syracuse law aljazeera am

<a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/upfront-november-25-2015/">https://kpfa.org/episode/upfront-november-25-2015/</a>

apple test congr "stateless income"

2004 b 43 save 11b$ in taxes Ensign

single line of tax code signed into law by RR; keep taxes while techinvally offshore, but they can do whatever they want incl reinvest it in US, but make more off compund interest than tax, so bassically make $ on taxes

duopoly can be  worse than mono; mkt power, raise prices

1b$ per WEEK of we could negotiate (Vets Admin can)

3 airlines plus SW;

==

2012

When six-term GOP incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah faced the prospect of a mutiny from conservative activists, his allies within the pharmaceutical industry stepped in to help defend him.

New documents obtained by the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Center for Public Integrity</a> show that the drug lobby’s main trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), gave $750,000 in 2011 to Freedom Path, a nonprofit group that spent big to help Hatch win another term.

Despite his solid <a href="http://conservative.org/news/american-conservative-union-pac-endorses-orrin-hatch-for-u-s-senate/" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">conservative credentials</a>, Hatch drew a primary challenge from former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist in the 2012 election. Hatch out-fundraised the challenger by an 11-1 margin, but Liljenquist was helped by super PAC <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/03/07/8350/pac-profile-freedomworks-america" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">FreedomWorks for America</a>, which reported spending nearly $1 million on anti-Hatch ads.

Filings with the Federal Election Commission indicate that Freedom Path spent at least $517,000 on ads designed to help Hatch’s electoral prospects, though Freedom Path board member Scott Bensing said the group’s spending was closer to $1 million.

The drug lobby’s donation was revealed on PhRMA’s newly filed Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service, which covers the 2011 calendar year. Since the donation went to a nonprofit, it was not required to be reported to the Federal Election Commission.

PhRMA made contributions to several other politically linked nonprofits, including:

$500,000 to “Montana Growth,” which appears to be a group that produced fliers and radio ads supporting a conservative candidate for the state Supreme Court;

$264,500 to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a controversial organization made up of state lawmakers and corporate executives that creates “model legislation” for state legislatures;

$250,000 to the liberal-aligned Citizens for Strength and Security;

$200,000 to anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform;

$40,000 to conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation; and

$40,000 to the Utah Families Foundation, which Hatch helped start in the 1990s and still raises money for.

(Update: Nov. 30, 2012, 5:45 p.m.: Additional research has shown that "Montana Growth" was not the "Montana Growth Network," which was active in the state's Supreme Court race, but rather a Democratic-aligned nonprofit. See <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/11/30/11878/drug-lobby-donation-went-pro-democratic-nonprofit" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">this article</a> for more.)

Freedom Path is a “front group set up to protect Orrin Hatch,” said Russ Walker, FreedomWorks’ vice president of political and grassroots campaigns.

“Orrin Hatch has always worked hard for the drug lobby,” Walker said. “He has always been an advocate for their positions.”

A spokesperson for Hatch did not respond to requests for comment.

But Dave Hansen, Hatch's campaign manager, said by law the campaign couldn't coordinate with Freedom Path.

"We had no contact with them," he said. "And did not know what they were doing, when they did it or where they got their funds from."

According to Bensing, Freedom Path seeks a “more accountable federal budget, a balanced budget amendment and less intrusive government.”

He said his organization has received money from about “eight to 10” contributors, totaling roughly $1.5 million since its launch last year. He declined to identify any of these backers. The group reported raising $850,000 in 2011 from two donors, according to an IRS document obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Earlier this year, Liljenquist <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53677266-90/hatch-freedom-path-group.html.csp" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">complained</a> to The Salt Lake Tribune about the lack of information about Freedom Path.

“Organizations have just as much right as people to participate in politics, but there should be visibility on who is funding them and where that money is coming from," he said.

Federal rules only require Freedom Path, which is a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofit, to disclose its donors if a contribution is earmarked for a specific advertisement. Freedom Path officials says the group has not solicited money for particular ads.

Like Freedom Path, FreedomWorks operates a nonprofit wing that does not reveal its donors. The non-disclosing nonprofit also accounted for about 15 percent of the $15 million raised by its super PAC arm.

Friend of PhRMA

Hatch received more <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=H04&cycle=2012&recipdetail=A&sortorder=U" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">campaign contributions</a> from the pharmaceutical industry than any other member of Congress in the 2011-2012 election cycle, some $448,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The 78-year-old lawmaker sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is the ranking GOP member on the powerful Senate Finance Committee.

As far back as 1984, he authored legislation with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., that helped allow generic drugs to flourish but also gave brand-name pharmaceutical companies new powers to contest patent infringements by generics.

And he helped spearhead a successful effort to give pharmaceutical companies 12 years of exclusive rights to sell biologic drugs rather than the seven-year period favored by President Barack Obama during the health care reform debate.

Furthermore, his son, Scott Hatch, is a partner at a lobbying firm whose clients include PhRMA and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline, though both Hatches have maintained that Scott does not lobby his father or his office.

PhRMA declined to respond to direct questions from the Center. Senior vice president Matthew Bennett said in a written statement that the group “often makes grants or charitable contributions to organizations that share PhRMA’s goals.”

PhRMA spent more than $14 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of this year and donated $185,500 to politicians via its PAC during the 2012 election cycle, including $6,000 to Hatch, federal records show.

In July, it also gave $50,000 to a joint fundraising committee that benefited three Democratic super PACs: <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/16/8175/pac-profile-majority-pac" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Majority PAC</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/16/8172/pac-profile-house-majority-pac" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">House Majority PAC</a> and <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/01/30/8025/pac-profile-priorities-usa-action" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Priorities USA Action</a>, which supported Obama’s re-election.

The new IRS filing further shows that PhRMA contributed $5,000 to the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/21/9164/nonprofit-profile-american-action-network" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">American Action Network</a>, a conservative nonprofit headed by former Sen. Norm Coleman. That’s down significantly from the $4.5 million PhRMA <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/27/8271/drug-lobby-gave-94-million-nonprofits-spent-big-2010-election" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">donated</a> to the group in 2010.

PhRMA officials declined to comment about whether the organization gave additional money to American Action Network in 2012.

Long-time ALEC member

PhRMA has provided financial support to the Republican-dominated American Legislative Exchange Council for years. Jeffrey Bond, a senior vice president at PhRMA, sits on ALEC’s “private enterprise board.”

The organization opposes policies that would allow U.S. consumers to buy prescription drugs from countries such as Canada at bargain prices and bring them back to the United States. It has also pushed model legislation aimed at countering proposals that advocate for government-mandated price controls on pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, in a seeming departure, the trade group appears to have given a large contribution to an organization active in Montana’s Supreme Court election.

Montana Growth, whose address is listed as a mailbox at a UPS store in Washington, D.C., on the IRS form, appears to be the “Montana Growth Network,” which sought to influence the state’s nonpartisan judicial race. State District Judge Laurie McKinnon defeated Missoula public defender Ed Sheehy for an open seat on the high court, after attorney Elizabeth Best was knocked out during a contentious primary.

McKinnon was endorsed by the Montana Chamber of Commerce and Montana Farm Bureau, while the Montana Growth Network attacked Sheehy for a case in which he argued that the death penalty was unconstitutional.

The $500,000 donation was far more than the candidates raised in a state where contribution limits are among the lowest in the nation.

McKinnon, who won with about 56 percent of the vote, raised about $87,000 while Sheehy raised roughly $67,000, according to the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Group’s origins questioned

In 2010, Hatch’s Republican colleague, Sen. Bob Bennett, was targeted by tea party-aligned activists and thwarted from winning a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. Hatch wanted to avoid a similar fate.

Bennett’s re-election was opposed by the anti-tax group Club for Growth as well as FreedomWorks, which is headed by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

Freedom Path’s first ad was released in July of 2011. It <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeCXiAr7Hks&feature=plcp" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">touted</a> Hatch and tea party-backed freshman Sen. Mike Lee, who bested Bennett in 2010, as “leading the fight in Washington to get spending under control,” though Lee had declined to endorse Hatch before the June primary.

Another <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Lh34GZJe8&feature=plcp" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">ad in January</a> championed Hatch as “leading the conservative charge to repeal Obamacare.” And one <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjca_V4OObc&feature=plcp" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">ad in March</a> trumpeted the balanced budget amendment introduced by Hatch and Lee.

The group also produced several advertisements attacking Liljenquist.

Ultimately, Hatch prevailed, capturing about two-thirds of the vote.

During the contested primary election, all that was known about Freedom Path was its leadership, which has ties to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

In addition to Bensing, the group’s board members include GOP operative Mark Emerson.

Bensing is a lobbyist at the firm SB Strategic Consulting, whose clients include the Nevada Department of Transportation, Station Casinos in Las Vegas and Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

He previously worked as Ensign’s chief of staff and as the executive director of the NRSC.

Emerson, meanwhile, previously worked for Hatch and served as Ensign’s chief of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives. He once was the executive director of the Utah Republican Party.

During the campaign, Freedom Path also hired the consulting firm November Inc., which is headed by Mike Slanker, a former NRSC operative and Ensign aide.

Sheila Krumholz, the executive director the Center for Responsive Politics, said PhRMA’s $750,000 contribution to Freedom Path allowed the drug lobby to claim some credit for Hatch's victory, “without being directly linked to the outside group's expenditure if he'd lost.”

Rick Hasen, a professor at the University of California-Irvine law school, added that voters should have been informed of the donation because it would have helped them judge the “credibility of the ads.”

“Groups adopt anodyne names like ‘Freedom Path’ which reveal nothing to voters about who is really behind [their] political advertising,” he said. “Voters may have liked or not liked that Sen. Hatch's election was being supported by the pharmaceutical industry, but they should have known about it.”

</div>

<h4 style=" box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5.6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">More stories about</h4>

<div class="first" style=" box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Orrin-Hatch" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Orrin Hatch</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Pharmaceutical-Research" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Pharmaceutical Research</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Manufacturers-of-America" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Manufacturers of America</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Dan-Liljenquist" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Dan Liljenquist</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Scott-Bensing" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Scott Bensing</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Republican-Party" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Republican Party</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Utah" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Utah</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/United-States-Senate" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">United States Senate</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/pharmaceutical-industry" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">pharmaceutical industry</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Tea-Party-movement" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Tea Party movement</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/FreedomWorks" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">FreedomWorks</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Club-for-Growth" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Club for Growth</a>,<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Pharmaceutical-lobby" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Pharmaceutical lobby</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Pharmaceutical-Research-and-Manufacturers-of-America" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Dick-Armey" style=" box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Dick Armey</a></div>

</div>

==

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/06/phrma-companies-push-hard-on-house-bill-to-ease-testing-of-new-drugs">http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/06/phrma-companies-push-hard-on-house-bill-to-ease-testing-of-new-drugs</a>

dereg?

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<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://act.alternet.org/go/58064?t=5&akid=12813.1076705.lwhHNz" style=" text-decoration: none; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">The Pharma Drug That Is Bankrupting America</a>

Jeffrey Sachs, The Huffington Post

How can Gilead Sciences charge $84,000 for a drug that costs less than $300 to produce? <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://act.alternet.org/go/58064?t=6&akid=12813.1076705.lwhHNz" class="yiv2480537194readmore" style=" text-decoration: none; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em;">READ MORE»</a>

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<a href="http://www.alternet.org/print/economy/5-things-know-about-how-corporations-block-access-everything-miracle-drugs-science-research">http://www.alternet.org/print/economy/5-things-know-about-how-corporations-block-access-everything-miracle-drugs-science-research</a>

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<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/08/1207785/-Big-Pharma-CEOs-Rake-in-1-57-Billion-in-Pay">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/08/1207785/-Big-Pharma-CEOs-Rake-in-1-57-Billion-in-Pay</a>

For people who were blown away to learn recently that the 11 largest global pharmaceutical companies made an astonishing <a href="http://healthcareforamericanow.org/2013/04/08/pharma-711-billion-profits-price-gouging-seniors/">$711 billion</a> in profits over the last decade, here's another measure of the industry’s greed: The same companies paid their chief executive officers a combined <a href="http://healthcareforamericanow.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ceo-earnings-table-2013-0507-for-web.pdf">$1.57 billion</a> in that period. Not bad work if you can get it. They achieved this thanks in part to their systematic exploitation of Medicare and an epidemic of illegal marketing activity.

According to corporate filings analyzed by Health Care for America Now (HCAN), in 2012 the drug companies’ CEOs drew total compensation of $199.2 million, two and a half times the total in 2003. In 2006, the first year of the Medicare prescription drug law, the pay of the CEOs jumped by $58.9 million from the previous year, the largest one-year increase in the decade HCAN reviewed.

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Other corporate sponsors of the 2011 ALEC SNPS included GlaxoSmithKline, AT&T, ExxonMobil, Time Warner Cable, PhRMA, Peabody Energy, Duke Energy, Bayer Healthcare, AstraZeneca, and Reynolds American.

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<a href="http://www.propublica.org/special/big-pharmas-big-fines">http://www.propublica.org/special/big-pharmas-big-fines</a>

On Monday, the Department of Justice announced that drug company GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/July/12-civ-842.html">a $3 billion fine</a>, the largest health care fraud fine in the history of the United States. This fine is just the latest in a string of drug company penalties for improper promotion of drugs for “off-label,” or unapproved, uses. Here we take a look at six recent multi-million dollar fines that drug companies have agreed to pay for inappropriately, and in some cases illegally, promoting prescription drugs.

<div id="chart">      FINE (billions of dollars) ............ $1.42 $2.3 $.52 $.95 $1.5 $3</div>

Eli Lilly

Jan 2009

Eli Lilly was <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/January/09-civ-038.html">fined $1.42 billion</a> to resolve a government investigation into the off-label promotion of the anti-psychotic Zyprexa. Zyprexa had been approved for the treatment of certain psychotic disorders, but Lilly admitted to promoting the drug in elderly populations to treat dementia. The government also alleged that Lilly targeted primary care physicians to promote Zyprexa for unapproved uses and “trained its sales force to disregard the law.”

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Pfizer

Sept 2009

Pfizer was <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/September/09-civ-900.html">fined $2.3 billion</a>, then the largest health care fraud settlement and the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States. Pfizer pled guilty to misbranding the painkiller Bextra with "the intent to defraud or mislead", promoting the drug to treat acute pain at dosages the FDA had previously deemed dangerously high. Bextra was pulled from the market in 2005 due to safety concerns. The government alleged that Pfizer also promoted three other drugs illegally: the anti-psychotic Geodon, an antibiotic Zyvox, and the anti-epileptic drug Lyrica.

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AstraZeneca

April 2010

AstraZeneca was <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/April/10-civ-487.html">fined $520 million</a> to resolve allegations that it illegally promoted the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel. The drug was approved for treating schizophrenia and later for bipolar mania, but the government alleged that AstraZeneca promoted Seroquel for a variety of unapproved uses, such as aggression, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression. AstraZeneca denied the charges but agreed to pay the fine to end the investigation.

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Merck

Nov 2011

Merck agreed to pay a fine of <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/November/11-civ-1524.html">$950 million</a> related to the illegal promotion of the painkiller Vioxx, which was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after studies found the drug increased the risk of heart attacks. The company pled guilty to having promoted Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before it had been approved for that use. The settlement also resolved allegations that Merck made false or misleading statements about the drug's heart safety to increase sales.

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Abbott

May 2012

Abbott was <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-civ-585.html">fined $1.5 billion</a> in connection to the illegal promotion of the anti-psychotic drug Depakote. Abbott admitted to having trained a special sales force to target nursing homes, marketing the drug for the control of aggression and agitation in elderly dementia patients. Depakote had never been approved for that purpose, and Abbott lacked evidence that the drug was safe or effective for those uses. The company also admitted to marketing Depakote to treat schizophrenia, even though no study had found it effective for that purpose.

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GlaxoSmithKline

July 2012

GlaxoSmith Kline agreed to <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/July/12-civ-842.html">pay a fine of $3 billion</a> to resolve civil and criminal liabilities regarding its promotion of drugs, as well as its failure to report safety data. This is the largest health care fraud settlement in the United States to date. The company pled guilty to misbranding the drug Paxil for treating depression in patients under 18, even though the drug had never been approved for that age group. GlaxoSmithKline also pled guilty to failing to disclose safety information about the diabetes drug Avandia to the FDA.

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Source: The Department of Justice.

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61% pol funding soft $ cf <a href="http://www.citizen.org/congress/article_redirect.cfm?ID=6541">http://www.citizen.org/congress/article_redirect.cfm?ID=6541</a>

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lobbying:

The Consequences

The success of the Powell–Chamber of Commerce plan transformed American law, government, and society, with two devastating consequences for the country. First, corporations gained new political power at the expense of average citizens and voters. Corporations poured out money to lobbying and election campaigns and to help friendly politicians and hurt unfriendly politicians. With even modest reform crushed by corporate rights decisions such as Bellotti v. First National Bank of Boston — and now much more so, Citizens United — corporations could threaten “independent expenditure” campaigns against politicians who did not bend their way. Corporate money to influence legislative votes and politician behavior lost its scandalous, shameful nature. Bags of corporate cash were no longer bags of cash; they were “speech.” How could “speech” be corrupt or scandalous?

Washington and many state capitals became playgrounds for corporate lobbyists, and our elected representatives became increasingly disconnected from the will of the people. With the new, organized corporate radicalism, staggering amounts of corporate money flooded Washington and our political system. Between 1998 and 2010, for example, the Chamber of Commerce spent $739 million on lobbying. Pharmaceutical and health care corporations spent more than $2 billion on lobbying in the past twelve years. Three corporations seeking military contracts, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Lockheed, and Boeing, spent more than $400 million on lobbying. GE Corporation ($237 million), AT&T ($162 million), the pharmaceutical corporate lobby PHRMA ($195 million), ExxonMobil ($151 million), Verizon ($149 million), and many more corporations all joined the lobby- fest.25 Financial, labor, energy, environmental, health, trade, and other legislation and policy tilted in favor of corporate interests; the hurdles for advancing the public interest became much higher.  clements

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