Department of Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Alex Azar would be the first former drug industry executive to lead the agency if he is confirmed by the Senate. A Tarbell review of past HHS secretaries – and before that leaders of its predecessor bureau, the Department of Health Education and Welfare...
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main trade association for the drug industry, wrote $14.3 million in checks in 2015 to a panoply of nonprofit think tanks, disease advocacy groups and charities. The money is spread around liberally to win friends, to win influence, and to win the...
The pharmaceutical industry has reinforced its clout on Capitol Hill with campaign contributions that heavily support incumbents in both parties. That figure came to a total of $62.7 million during the 2016 election cycle, according to the OpenSecrets database. The largest drug companies lean, in particular, toward the members of...
The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t just contribute to patient groups or the lawmakers themselves through campaign contributions to assert influence. It floods the U.S. Capitol with lobbyists. A Tarbell analysis of lobbying disclosures found that the leading drugmakers that make up the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, and the association itself, have spent...