OT: Drug Firms GAin Church Group's Aid

[Guest guest]

I debated forwarding this in, but a commentary I read this morning

caused me to realize the importance of this article.

 

It's a common tactic for certain companies and industries to

establish or fund front groups to get their message out under the

guise of such-and-such being good for the public when it really

isn't. The pharmaceutical industry has a long history of payoffs to

various groups. For example, the pharmaceutical industry makes

substantial contributions to the APA (American Psychiatric

Association). In return, few treatments for mental illness are

considered besides pharmaceutical treatments. Very expensive drugs

in many cases.

 

Any time governments or organizations of goverments (such as the UN)

sets health care standards, there needs to be a lot of discussion

among and input from the public. Otherwise we end up

with " solutions " that do little in the way of healing (and often make

people sicker) but do a lot for some company's or group's bottom line

as they clear out the competition.

 

I also want to remind readers that alternative medicine, control over

one's body, and the right to make one's own medical decisions are not

left-right, liberal-conservative, Democrat-Republican, etc. issues.

There are about equal numbers of people on the left, in the center,

and on the right who use and champion alternative medicine. Likewise,

people opposed to alternative medicine (for various reasons but

usually for something having to do with profits) also can be found

across the political spectum. It's not a right-left issue but one of

treating adults like adults and recognizing their right to seek out

and use the treatment of their choice.

 

You will note that a number of Republicans as well as Democrats and

Independents are very angry about the attempt by the pharmaceutical

industry to influence them clandestantly via their funding of church

groups and preachers.

 

My apologies to the list members from other countries for introducing

a topic which so far is affecting only Americans. But observation

has taught me over the years that what a company or industry can get

by with in one country often gets introduced in some form to other

countries eventually.

****************************

 

Drug Firms Gain Church Group's Aid

Claim About Import Measure Stirs Anger

By Jim VandeHei and Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writers

Wednesday, July 23, 2003; Page A01

 

 

A Christian lobbying group fighting the proposed importation of low-

cost

prescription drugs has received behind-the-scenes help from the drug

industry, the latest example of pharmaceutical companies trying to

influence

Congress clandestinely.

 

The Traditional Values Coalition, which bills itself as a Christian

advocacy

group representing 43,000 churches, has mailed to the districts of

several

conservative House Republicans this sharply disputed warning:

Legislation to

allow the importation of U.S.-made pharmaceuticals from Canada and

Europe

might make RU-486, called the " abortion pill, " as easy to get as

aspirin.

 

The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) portrays its campaign as a

moral

fight for the " sanctity of life. " Documents provided to The

Washington Post,

however, show that drug lobbyists played a key role in crafting its

argument

and in disseminating the information to lawmakers. Pharmaceutical

companies

oppose the legislation -- which would legalize the reimportation of

U.S.-made prescription drugs that sell for less in Canada than in the

United

States -- not over abortion but because it would erode their profits.

 

The bill, likely to be voted on this week, is popular with many

lawmakers

seeking to reduce the cost of medicine for older Americans without

relying

on government subsidies. Opponents say it would open the door to

unsafe and

less regulated drugs and drain profits that companies use, in part, to

research and develop new medicines.

 

A recent TVC letter sent to Congress was signed by the coalition's

executive

director, Andrea Sheldon Lafferty. It was originally drafted,

however, by

Tony Rudy, a lobbyist for pharmaceutical companies and a former top

aide to

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), computer records show.

Lafferty

also circulated a memo -- linking the legislation to RU-486's

availability -- that was drafted by Bruce Kuhlik, a senior vice

president at

the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a

trade

group funded by the nation's biggest pharmaceutical firms.

 

A Republican close to TVC said Rudy also helped arrange funding for

the

group's direct-mail campaign, which targeted nearly two dozen

Republicans

even though they generally oppose abortion rights. Several

Republicans said

pharmaceutical companies, through their lobbyists, contacted other

conservative groups, including the Christian Coalition, about waging a

similar campaign against the reimportation measure. The Traditional

Values

Coalition was the only taker because several abortion opponents

questioned

the accuracy of the drug industry's argument, according to lawmakers

and

conservative activists.

 

PhRMA, one of Washington's most influential lobbying groups, has long

paid

other organizations -- often those with friendly-sounding names such

as the

United Seniors Association -- to promote legislation favored by

Pfizer Inc.,

Eli Lilly and Co. and other leading drugmakers. The idea is to make

the

campaigns appear driven by seniors, who spend the most on medicines,

or, in

this case, Christian activists. Government watchdog groups say such

campaigns, which generally do not have to disclose their financing,

are

deceptive and misleading. In the legislative fight over imported

drugs, the

United Seniors Association is warning lawmakers and voters of

the " dangers

of imported drugs. "

 

In a letter to lawmakers, Lafferty said the reimportation bill would

create

new " avenues " for buying abortion drugs and would " effectively

repeal " the

law that prohibits the sale of abortion products through the mail.

Proponents of the bill say it would do nothing to make RU-486 more

available, because patients would still need a doctor's prescription.

 

With the House vote expected to be close, PhRMA is trying to peel off

supporters one by one, tailoring its argument to individual lawmakers'

concerns. In this case, the TVC mailings to abortion opponents

included a

picture of a baby and asked whether the targeted lawmakers will " miss

an

opportunity to protect the sanctity of human life. "

 

House Republicans were so offended by the mailings that they recently

barred

the TVC and its leader, the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, from attending

future

meetings of the Values Action Team, an umbrella group of socially

conservative Republicans. " We stand united in opposition to the

unethical

and unacceptable tactics you have employed to force pro-life members

of

Congress to support your views, " Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.) said in

a

letter to Sheldon.

 

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), an abortion opponent who was targeted by

the

TVC mailings, said in an interview: " It makes me so angry I could

spit. "

 

It is unclear who paid for the direct-mail campaign, although several

Republicans said drug companies were behind it. Rudy, whose clients

include

PhRMA and Eli Lilly, declined to comment for this story.

 

Lafferty said she promised the House " leadership " she would not talk

to

reporters about the matter. She neither confirmed nor denied that the

TVC

received money from Alexander Strategy Group, which is headed by Rudy

and

former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham. PhRMA spokesman Jeff Truitt

would

not comment.

 

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and several other conservatives are blaming

the

drug companies for the mailing campaign, though they offered no

specific

evidence linking the mailing to PhRMA or individual companies.

 

" I do not understand . . . how a religious organization can be

manipulated

by the pharmaceutical industry to do this sort of thing, " Burton

said. " They

are supposed to be moral people. And yet I am confident, in fact I am

dead

sure, that the Traditional Values Coalition did not have the money to

mail

this kind of trash out to congressional districts all across the

country. "

 

The National Review, a conservative magazine, reported last week that

other

socially conservative groups were offered money to spread the message

that

the legislation could lead to more abortions. Since then, several GOP

lawmakers have called on Sheldon to disclose who paid for the

campaign.

 

DeLay, an ally of the drug companies, vowed yesterday to defeat the

legislation, which he called " horrible policy. "

 

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

 

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