In our globalised world, there are few industries that come close to the pharmaceutical industry in the reach and the impact it has on the lives of ordinary citizens. Economic heavyweights can easily get their voices heard within political arenas, because economic and political interests are always intertwined. Pfizer is said to be the most powerful political lobbyist of the pharmaceutical industry, and the drug giant is constantly using this power to influence regulations, laws and policies that suit its own interest. Pfizer Inc. spent $3.79 million in the first fiscal quarter this year lobbying the federal government on issues from drug pricing and patents to tax rates and aspects of the 2010 healthcare overhaul, according to a quarterly disclosure report.
Pfizer, the world's biggest drugmaker by revenue, lobbied on Medicare prescription drug coverage and rebates paid for drugs bought through Medicaid, reform of patent laws and handling of patent disputes, and implementation of the health care overhaul. It also lobbied on extending and improving the federal tax credit for research and development spending, taxes on repatriation of income earned overseas and deferral of taxes on some earnings.
Pfizer lobbied on free-trade agreements with Korea, and on market access and regulatory issues involving the E.U., Japan, India and other countries. It also lobbied on the fees the government charges to review and approve experimental drugs, rules for producing generic versions of biologic drugs, and on research required under the health overhaul to compare effectiveness of drugs and other treatments.
Pfizer also sought to influence legislation concerning ways to fight the growing problem of microbes becoming resistant to drug treatment, and on rules restricting sales of cough medicines containing the ingredient dextromethorphan, which is included in over-the-counter medicines such as Robitussin.
Pfizer has not only been lobbying Congress and the White House, but other government agencies whose list reads like an alphabet soup. Pfizer lobbied the Food and Drug Administration, the Patent & Trademark Office, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Departments of Commerce, State and Health & Human Services, according to a disclosure report filed April 20 with the House clerk's office.
A federal law enacted in 1995 requires lobbyists to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches.
