Pushing pays off

As reported in Reuters Thursday, The Center For Public Integrity published their investigation and research into the pharmaceutical industry spending of $44 million lobbying U.S. state officials during 2003 and 2004. "The industry also funneled more than $8 million to the campaigns of candidates for various state offices over the same period, according to a Center analysis of state campaign money..."

At the time, many state governments were seeking to reduce spending on prescription drugs, one of their fastest-growing expenses. States are among the pharmaceutical industry's biggest customers; through Medicaid and other aid programs they purchase about 16 percent of all prescription drugs sold in the country, and also finance drug coverage for state employees, retirees and prison inmates.

The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization investigating and reporting on national and international public policy issues. For more than a year, the Center tracked the pharmaceutical industry's political influence and its impact on the American public. Their research is presented on their web site which "includes charts showing where and how much lobbying money was spent, allowing readers to quickly find information about their own states."

Pushing Prescriptions, How the drug industry sells its agenda at your expense
(a series of web reports by the The Center For Public Integrity)