Lilly, other drug firms find friends in Congress

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/1/004505-2751-031.html

Lilly, other drug firms find friends in Congress

By Maureen Groppe

mgroppe@gns.gannett.com

November 29, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Eli Lilly and Co. and other large drug companies have many reasons to be thankful this holiday season.

Congress, which just wrapped up its two-year term, approved several measures the industry wanted and rejected other initiatives drug companies had fought fiercely.

"Congress didn't do very much that was harmful to the industry," said Jack Calfee, a health care expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

And when Congress reconvenes in January with Republicans controlling both chambers, Washington is expected to be an even friendlier place for drug companies.

But Jeff Trewhitt, a spokesman for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said that doesn't necessarily mean the next Congress will pass only bills the industry favors.

"We learned a long time ago never to crystal-ball it with Congress," Trewhitt said.

The pharmaceutical industry as a whole gave $19.1 million to candidates in this year's election, with 73 percent of that money going to the Republicans who now control Congress.

Within the industry, Lilly gave the most: $1.6 million, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Drug companies spent even more lobbying Congress. Lilly, for example, spent about $6.5 million on federal lobbyists in 2001, according to disclosure reports.

Lilly officials were not available for comment.

Drug companies say a prescription drug program for Medicare is their top priority next year. And GOP unity between Congress and the White House makes it more likely that a plan not only will pass, but it will be more to the industry's liking than what Democrats are pushing.

The Republican plan would subsidize private insurers that offer drug coverage. Some health care advocates worry that the coverage will be limited and vary significantly among plans for those who can get it.

Legal reforms also are high on the GOP agenda, and Calfee said it's likely any limits on liability would include the pharmaceutical industry.

Lilly and other companies already received a big piece of protection slipped into the homeland security bill. The law prevents lawsuits against makers of vaccine preservatives, including thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that some allege has been linked with the neurological disorder autism. Lilly, which created thimerosal, is already facing 45 lawsuits.

After protests from even some in their own party -- including Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana -- over how the protection was approved, Republicans have said they will revisit the issue in January.

Other measures sought by the industry that Congress approved were:

• Extending manufacturers' patents in exchange for testing a drug's safety for use by children. The extension was worth $900million in additional Prozac revenues for Lilly, according to the consumer group Public Citizen.

• Renewing a program to speed Food and Drug Administration approval of drugs by raising money for government review from user fees. Drug companies complain it takes too long to get drugs through the FDA system, but consumer groups worry about making regulators too dependent on the manufacturers for their budget.

What was just as important for the industry was what Congress didn't do.

• It didn't make it easier to reimport cheaper drugs sold in Canada, a practice some elderly Hoosiers are using.

• It didn't make it easier for generic drugs to get to market faster to compete with pricier, brand-name versions.

Calfee, however, said he thinks pressure on Congress to address drug prices will ease as more popular brand-name drugs go generic or are sold over-the-counter.

He estimated that half-a-dozen brand-name drugs, with more than $1 billion in combined annual sales, will be available in generic form in the next two years. Claritin, a popular allergy drug, received FDA approval Wednesday to be sold over the counter.

Ron Pollack, director of Families USA, a liberal health care advocacy group, said drug companies have become "perhaps the number one villain in the public's eyes," and Washington must respond.

"There is no question that the pharmaceutical lobby, while they may feel they didn't buy this Congress, that they probably feel they can rent it," Pollack said. "But I think that the skyrocketing costs of drugs have affected so many people and interest groups that action is going to be taken in the not-so-distant future so that medicines can be affordable."

Call Maureen Groppe at 1-202-906-8118.

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Lilly, other drug firms find friends in Congress