Price’s Health Record, Instead Of His Stocks, Under Fire From Democrats
Critics of the HHS nominee say that he has a long career of trying to take health care away from millions of Americans. Meanwhile, NPR offers a look at his stock portfolio. In other news, a pharma CEO and campaign donor wanted a study that questioned the safety of one of his drugs removed from a government website -- so he turned to Price for help.
Morning Consult:
Senate Democrats Gather Witnesses To Critique Trump’s Health Pick
Senate Democrats on Thursday kept up the critiques of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, hosting witnesses in a Senate office building to talk about how the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid helped make their health care more affordable. Democrats focused their attacks on Rep. Tom Price’s (R-Ga.) health policy record rather than his stock trading, which was a big focus of his hearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday. (McIntire, 1/19)
NPR:
Rep. Tom Price And His Health Care Portfolio
Georgia Republican Tom Price, who is President-elect Trump's choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services, is suddenly drowning in questions over the investments he has made while serving in the House of Representatives. The issue: Did Price use his position to influence the stock prices of companies he had invested in? Or, alternatively, did he buy shares in companies ahead of actions in Congress that might boost their value? (Kodjak, 1/19)
The Associated Press:
Company That HHS Pick Invested In Faced Criminal Penalty
A medical device company in which Rep. Tom Price purchased stock last year has faced years of legal problems and agreed in December to a $17 million Justice Department criminal penalty in a foreign bribery case. (Tucker, 1/19)
ProPublica:
When A Study Cast Doubt On A Heart Pill, The Drug Company Turned To Tom Price
The $3 pill known as BiDil was already a difficult sell when a Georgia-based pharmaceutical company bought the marketing rights a few years ago. A treatment for African Americans suffering from heart failure, BiDil had never really caught on, forcing the drug company that developed it to take a buyout offer. One strike against the drug was a 2009 study that raised questions about its safety and effectiveness. So last summer, the new owner of the drug, Arbor Pharmaceuticals LLC of Atlanta, sought to get the study taken down from a government website. For help, the company turned to the office of a congressman to whom the CEO had given the maximum $2,700 campaign donation — Rep. Tom Price, the Georgia Republican nominated by Donald Trump to become head of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Faturechi, 1/19)
CQ Roll Call:
HHS Nominee Price, Staff Aided Donors In Battles With Agencies
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has advocated over the years for companies with the federal agencies he may soon oversee. At least three of the companies aided by Rep. Tom Price and his staff contributed to his campaign funds. A CQ Roll Call review of more than 5,600 pages of congressional correspondence with HHS employees provide a picture of a lawmaker who has taken a deep interest in the workings of the Medicare entitlement program’s payments to the health industry. Price, a former surgeon, or his staff also pressured the Food and Drug Administration and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to heed requests and complaints he received from donors and constituents. (Young and Siddons, 1/19)
