Big Pharma Not Fond of McCain’s Big Mo
Posted by Joe Mantone
Conventional wisdom holds that the pharmaceutical industry would prefer a Republican candidate for president over a Democratic one, but that may not prove the case for John McCain, even as he emerges as the GOP frontrunner.
McCain opposes Big Pharma on two hotly contested issues: the re-importation of drugs from countries where they cost less and giving Medicare the clout to negotiate drug prices directly. McCain has long stumped for re-importation to save money. And he voted against the expansion of Medicare to include a drug benefit because it didn’t allow direct price negotiations by the government and because the program covers too many people.
His health-care plan also calls for drug companies to reveal prices of their drugs and to develop a straightforward path for the creation of generic biologics, two other ideas that wouldn’t do much for the bottom line of the industry leaders. (For a Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton-McCain health care plan comparison, click here.) A look at the money trail shows that McCain is not the sector’s favorite horse in the race. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that McCain has received $39,797 in donations from pharmaceutical manufacturers. That puts him behind Obama ($154,710), Clinton ($140,544), Mitt Romney ($103,825), Rudy Giuliani ($91,550) and even Chris Dodd ($68,200) Who’s giving to McCain? The most generous group is the retired, with more than $5 million in donations. And who wants cheap drugs more than the retired? No. 2: Lawyers and law firms, which have given $2.5 million, according to the CRP. (No. 6 on the list are health professionals with $713,952 in contributions.)
quarta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2008
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