Thursday, March 13, 2008

Pharma in bed with Democrats?

From WaPo.com:

The pharmaceutical industry is now saddling up to the Democratic Party, and it has worked to block Democrats top prescription-drug initiatives.

From the article:

"In the year since they took over on Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders have been unable to pass either a bill allowing reimportation of drugs from Canada or a measure requiring negotiation of drug prices under Medicare. Neither is likely to reach the president's desk this year. Lawmakers on both sides of these issues say the primary reason is the influence, now redirected, of the drug lobby.

Drug companies have gone on a hiring binge, retaining Democratic lobbyists in dozens of major firms. This strategy, which K Streeters call "clogging the system," prevents adversaries from hiring anyone from those consultancies."

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