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Monday, September 19, 2016

Maryland 11th in Lobbyists for Prescription Drug Makers

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland ranks 11th among states for the average number of lobbyists each year working for makers of prescription painkillers and allied groups, when drug makers’ lobbying hires are ranked using a ratio factoring in all lobbyist registrations in each state, a joint investigation by The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity has found.

Nationwide, companies that make prescription opioid painkillers and allied groups have spent more than $880 million from 2006 through 2015 on campaign contributions and lobbying over the past decade as they worked to influence state and federal policies, the investigation found. The companies and groups employed an annual average of 1,350 lobbyists in state capitals around the country and contributed to a total of 7,100 candidates for state-level office, according to the investigation.

The also hired more than 115 federal lobbying organizations each year during that 10-year period.
The groups have an array of political interests that include opioid advocacy, and their spending was eight times what the gun lobby spent during the same period. The overall picture of drug-related lobbying in Maryland in recent years has been complicated by robust interest the state’s efforts to get a stalled medical marijuana program off the ground.

Groups seeking limits on opioid prescribing spent about $4 million, by comparison nationwide.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A part of the deal to pass Obamacare. Don't think the politicians voting for it aren't getting something from the drug companies.

Anonymous said...

and doctors and pain management 'specialists' (gag) are scared of prescribing any pain killers. they don't have a clue what they are doing (or not doing). they get some memo from DC and that's what they follow mainly because they are scared of being raided. guilty of anything or not the public images of cops and federal agents loading file cabinets and computers into a Uhaul is something they want no part of, patients be damned.

and then you have the drug seekers. yes we understand you have to be vigilant against these types who only want pain killers to get high or to sell but when a person comes into your office with 10 years of documentation, history and various surgeries trying to correct their pain, you SHOULD have enough common sense to tell the difference between junkies and someone in need.

and now that miserable hospital PRMC has gotten on the money train of pain management. what could go wrong? maybe they should change their status to a for-profit facility so people around this area could get some quality health care and hire better staff.

Anonymous said...

My friend's diabetes weekly injection medicine went from about $45 to $500 in a two month period.

$500!!

LastMohican said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
My friend's diabetes weekly injection medicine went from about $45 to $500 in a two month period.

$500!!

September 19, 2016 at 8:59 PM

holy crap! is that medicine from the same company that gouged us on epi-pens?