Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Why are pharmaceutical companies puffing up Kosmas and Grayson?

A big pharmaceutical lobbying firm has been running commercials to re-elect Rep. Grayson (8th) and Rep. Kosmas (24th) on local television in Central Florida. The fine print at the bottom of the screen names

  1. the Healthcare Leadership Council and
  2. another outfit whose approximate name is Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturies of America, which might be a misspelling of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
  3. [Click links for board of trustees and membership lists.]
I presume this is the HLC's Health Access America (HAA) Campaign.

Both outfits are in Washington, D.C., and they seem to be lobbying about health care reform. Former member of Congress, Hon. Billy Tauzin, is in charge of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

They want voters to think of Kosmas and Grayson as white knights defending grandmother and homeless children. How does that help the pharmaceutical companies?

I am guessing that Healthcare Leadership Council and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturies of America want to hard wire the health care "reform" mechanism so that the pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to get well paid by the Medicare prescription drug system. For instance, the PRMA is against importation of drugs to the US from countries where they must sell at lower prices.

Kosmas and Grayson, so compassionate and caring, are they stacking the deck for the pharmaceutical companies? More light fingers in D.C.?