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PhRMA Appears to Have Funneled Up to $41 Million
To "Stealth PACs" to Help Elect a Drug Industry-Friendly Congress |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - With its eyes on passage of an industry-friendly Medicare prescription drug bill, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) appears to have quietly channeled as much as $41 million to four stealth PACs in 2002 to help elect a Congress sympathetic to the pharmaceutical industry's interests, according to a new Public Citizen report. Money that likely came from PhRMA, the drug industry's trade association, enabled the United Seniors Association, 60 Plus Association, the Seniors Coalition and America 21 to broadcast ads and send direct mail in 39 U.S. Senate and House contests that year, supporting candidates friendly to PhRMA's agenda and criticizing those who weren't, the report reveals. At least one of the groups, United Seniors Association (USA), is again active in the 2004 elections, recently sponsoring TV ads in 17 or more House races that praise incumbents who supported the PhRMA-backed Medicare drug law pushed by President Bush and passed by Congress in 2003. Released today, Big PhRMA's Stealth PACs: How the Drug Industry Uses 501(c) Non-profit Groups to Influence Elections report is available at www.stealthpacs.org, a new Public Citizen Web site and comprehensive database to track 501(c) non-profit groups active in elections, which Public Citizen has dubbed the "new stealth PACs." |
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