Inside the Administration’s Deal with the Pharmaceutical Lobby

Last August, the Los Angeles Times reported that a deal had been reached between the White House and the lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The pharmaceutical industry promised to deliver $80 billion in cost savings and to run television ads supporting the health care reform effort. In exchange, the White House would prevent Medicare renegotiation of drug prices and the re-importation of drugs from abroad.

Now, in a methodically researched report drawing on public records and press accounts, the Sunlight Foundation has gone back and forensically examined how the deal came to be.

To get a full picture of the interlocking interests at work, the full piece is worth a read. Here are a few of the key findings:

rest at http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/inside-administrations-deal-with.html