Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharma Injected Big Money Into Thousands Of 2020 Congressional, State Campaigns
Stat: Two-Thirds Of Congress Cashed A Pharma Campaign Check In 2020
Seventy-two senators and 302 members of the House of Representatives cashed a check from the pharmaceutical industry ahead of the 2020 election — representing more than two-thirds of Congress, according to a new STAT analysis of records for the full election cycle. Pfizer’s political action committee alone contributed to 228 lawmakers. Amgen’s PAC donated to 218, meaning that each company helped to fund the campaigns of nearly half the lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Overall, the sector donated $14 million. (Facher, 6/9)
Stat: Pharma Funded Over 2,400 State Lawmaker Campaigns In 2020
State lawmakers in Oregon have tried to lower high drug prices from nearly every angle: They’ve sought to cap how much people can pay for insulin, install a panel that could determine how much state agencies should pay for medicines, and even import drugs in bulk from Canada. Nearly every proposal has failed. One reason, at least according to the effort’s supporters: Two-thirds of the state legislature accepted at least one campaign check from the drug industry during the 2020 election cycle. The trade group PhRMA, alone, wrote checks to 43 of the legislature’s 90 lawmakers. (Facher, 6/9)
