Drug Companies Spend Big Money on Politics

Not surprising......


U.S. Drug Makers Spend Big Money on Politics: Report



The U.S. pharmaceutical industry has spent more than $800 million on lobbyists and political campaigns since 1998, says a report released Wednesday by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan political watchdog group.

The report said that over the past year, the drug industry hired nearly almost 1,300 lobbyists, including hundreds of people who formerly worked for regulatory agencies or congressional committees and dozens of former lawmakers, the Associated Press reported.

"It is astonishing to learn that no other interest has spent more money to sway public policy in this time period," said Roberta Baskin, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity.

In 2003, the drug industry spent about $116 million on lobbying and political campaigns. That's the same year Congress approved a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare, the report noted.

Ken Johnson, senior vice president for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the trade group representing drug makers, labeled the report biased and one-sided, the AP reported

 

Since when did you become Babwa Wawa?

 

:Woot_Emot