It has been reported that the pharmaceutical industry’s main trade group spent $6.3 million in the fourth quarter lobbying in our Nation’s Capitol. Congress, the White House and multiple government agencies on health care provisions and related issues were targeted, according to a quarterly disclosure report. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has among its members drug giants Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson and more than two dozen other U.S. and foreign companies. PhRMA lobbied on multiple aspects of the health care overhaul.
Not surprisingly, most of the individuals registered to lobby on the trade group’s behalf in the third quarter were former government officials and former legislative assistants to members of Congress. While in government some of them held some pretty important positions. For example, one lobbyist is Anne Pritchett, former Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Drug Policy Office and the Executive Office of the President; and another is Jennifer Swenson, former Deputy Legislative Director for Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS).
Source: Forbes
