Wall Street Journal: "Drug Industry Hustles to Blunt Democratic Strikes"

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Drug Industry Hustles to Blunt Democratic Strikes
January 8, 2009 Sarah Rubenstein Wall Street Journal

The pharmaceutical industry, long known as a Republican stronghold, is warming up to Democrats now that they’ve won the presidency and consolidated power in Congress.

...Meanwhile, some companies are taking their own steps, even if the whole industry isn’t going along. For instance, WaPo notes that Merck said recently it’s joining a coalition supporting health reform, including something that hasn’t been the industry’s favorite idea: comparing the price and performance of drugs.

...Will the efforts be enough to keep Rep. Henry Waxman and Sen. Charles Grassley at bay? Waxman (D., Calif.) supports giving the FDA power to ban DTC marketing on some drugs in their first two years on market; Grassley (R., Iowa) has been pushing for greater disclosure of industry payments to doctors — a call companies including Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly are now moving toward themselves.

The industry’s voluntary efforts are “a start, not an end,” Grassley told WaPo. “You can’t say it’s a substitute for what I’m trying to do.”

LONG KNOWN AS A REPUBLICAN STRONG HOLD PRETTY MUCH SAYS IT ALL.

[katusha]

1. burn them for their hubris

a-holes, using peoples lives as chits for their personal gain. there will be a reckoning!