Drug Deal in the White House
posted Mon, 22 Mar 2010
A memo that was obtained by the Huffington Post and uploaded to it’s website in August of 2009 indicates that the White House outlined a commitment of up to $80 billion to PhRMA.
According to The Huffington Post “The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.
It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada...” Read an excerpt from the published memo below:
PhRMA is “The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies” Despite the fact that representatives from both the White House and PhRMA adamantly denied that the memo “does not reflect the agreement with the drug companies”, corroborating articles in both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times confirmed that such a deal was made.
References: LA Times, NY Times
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