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AMERICANS FOR

CAMPAIGN REFORM
FACT SHEET

Money in Politics & Prescription Drugs

Pharmaceuticals Invested Nearly $2 billion in Figure 1: Pharmaceutical Industry Campaign


Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Contributions (millions), 1990-2008

• Individuals, lobbyists, and political action committees in


$30
the pharmaceutical industry contributed $167 million to Soft Money
federal candidates from 1990 to 2008 $25
PAC
• Members of the House and Senate received an average of Individual
$25,277 and $81,891, respectively, in pharmaceutical $20
industry contributions in 2008
• Pharmaceutical industry spending to lobby the federal $15
government exceeded $1.5 billion from 1998 to 2008, more
than any other industry $10
• The ratio of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists to
Members of Congress is approximately 2:1 $5

$0
Pharmaceutical Industry Money Targeted Key 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
Committees and Incumbents
• Pharmaceutical industry contributions were targeted at Figure 2: Pharmaceutical Industry Lobbying
members of the relevant commerce and tax committees Expenditures (millions), 1999-2008
responsibility for industry regulation
• The top ten Senate recipients of industry contributions in
$250
2008 served on the key oversight committees:
Appropriations, Budget, Finance, or Commerce
• Members of the relevant Senate committees received an $200
average of $210,432 in industry contributions, nearly three Lobbying
times the Senate average of $81,891 $150
• Nine of the top ten targeted House recipients in 2008
served on the Energy and Commerce or Ways and Means $100
Committees, or in House leadership
• Targeted Members received an average of $163,280 in
$50
industry contributions, six times the House average
• Pharmaceutical industry contributions favored
$0
incumbents by a factor of nine to one (89%)
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Pharmaceutical Industry Contributions Figure 3: Top Ten Pharmaceutical Indusrty


Pegged to Key Legislation Contributors and Party Breakdown, 2008
• Industry contributions rose to $29.6 million prior to
Congressional approval of the Medicare Modernization Rank Organization Amount Dems Repubs
Act (MMA) of 2003, which featured the $400-$600 billion 1 Pfizer Inc $1,645,225 51% 49%
Medicare Part D prescriptions program
• The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Assoc. 2 Amgen Inc $1,310,477 50% 50%
(PhRMA) spent $30.3 million on lobbying from 2002-2003, 3 Johnson & Johnson $1,165,245 61% 39%
among the top 5 spenders overall 4 GlaxoSmithKline $1,135,700 41% 59%
• 15 members of Congress, congressional staff, and federal
5 Merck & Co $930,822 51% 49%
officials involved in MMA passage accepted jobs as
6 Eli Lilly & Co $928,903 48% 52%
pharmaceutical lobbyists after passage, including the
former Medicare director and the chair of the House 7 Abbott Laboratories $906,296 47% 53%
Energy and Commerce Committee 8 AstraZeneca Pharm $853,470 50% 50%
9 Roche Group $851,511 68% 32%
Sources: Center for Responsive Politics analysis of Federal Election
Commission data; Center for Public Integrity; Senate Office of Public 10 McKesson Corp $672,961 44% 56%

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