Thursday, December 16, 2004

Ex-Rep. Tauzin to be lobbyist for drug firms
High-paid job for chief writer of Medicare change raises questions

By ROBERT PEAR
THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., a principal author of the new Medicare drug law, will become president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the chief lobby for brand-name drug companies, the trade group said yesterday.

"This industry understands that it's got a problem," Tauzin, a Louisiana lawmaker who is retiring from Congress, said in an interview. "It has to earn the trust and confidence of consumers again."

Miles White, chairman of Abbott Laboratories and of the trade association, sitting next to Tauzin, said he agreed that the industry had lost the trust of patients.

Tauzin, a onetime Democrat who became a Republican in 1995, has a wealth of connections in Congress, where he has served for 24 years.

Drug makers said that the job was not a reward for Tauzin's work on the Medicare bill, which followed the industry's specifications in many respects. The law was signed by President Bush on Dec. 8, 2003, a few weeks before a lawyer for Tauzin began talks with the drug trade group.

Tauzin, 61, was the latest policy-maker to move from government to industry. "It's a classic example of the revolving door," said Lawrence Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit group that studies money and politics.

Thomas Scully, the administration's main negotiator with Congress on the drug bill, got a waiver of federal ethics rules that permitted him to negotiate with potential employers while he was still running the Medicare program. Since he joined a law firm last December, Scully has registered as a lobbyist for drug companies, including Abbott and Aventis.

Tauzin and White refused to discuss Tauzin's new salary, except to say it was comparable to the pay at other large trade associations. People at other trade groups said they believed that Tauzin was receiving $2 million a year or more.

Rep. Pete Stark of California, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said: "As a member of Congress, Billy negotiated a large payout to the pharmaceutical industry by the federal government. He's now about to receive one of the largest salaries ever paid to any advocate by an industry."

Tauzin wrote large parts of the new Medicare law as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee and as a member of the conference committee that hashed out differences between the House and the Senate in four months of intense negotiations last year.

The law steers clear of price controls and price regulation, which are anathema to drug companies. The law forbids the government to negotiate with drug manufacturers to secure lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

Federal law prohibits a former member of Congress from lobbying the House or the Senate for one year after the lawmaker leaves office. In that "cooling off period," Tauzin cannot directly lobby Congress himself, but can legally tell other people how to lobby. In addition, he can make campaign contributions, attend fund-raisers and "interact socially" with people in Congress.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who has focused on health policy for 30 years, did not question the legality of Tauzin's move. But Waxman said: "The appearance is terrible. A chief architect of the Medicare prescription drug legislation is now going to represent the chief beneficiary of the bill. This will only reinforce the public's disillusionment with Congress."

President Bush and Republicans in Congress say the law's main beneficiaries are Medicare recipients, not the industry.

Tauzin faces a paradox. Millions of Americans love the benefits of prescription drugs, but are outraged over drug prices and dislike drug makers. On the Senate floor two years ago, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a supporter of the industry, said it was regularly portrayed as a "satanic" force, "a bunch of greedy, money-grubbing companies."

The industry is resisting a groundswell of support for proposals to legalize the import of lower-cost medicines from Canada and other countries.

Tauzin waged a battle this year with intestinal cancer and said his life had been saved by Avastin, a biotechnology product made by Genentech and approved in February by the Food and Drug Administration.

In his last election campaign, Tauzin received $174,000 in contributions from health professionals and $119,750 from makers of drugs and other health products.

I'm shocked, shocked.

Tauzin also has the reputation for taking the most "expense-paid" trips, mostly paid for by the pharm industry, than any other legislator over the past 4 years.

That whole Prescription drug plan is the most blatant rip off of the American taxpayer in history. Now we know why.

One of the clearest recent examples of why all politics are a mere sham to lobbying’s jon dough

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

His boy came in a close second in the Congressional race to replace Billy Sr. It was one butt-ugly campaign by both sides. But the Democrat won, thank goodness. But don't get too excited about an actual win of a Repo seat by a Demo, the winner is a very conservative guy with a conservative voting record. He will be a Repo-lite.

I don't think it qualifies as the MOST blatant abuse of taxpayers........but I agree with you otherwise. It's ridiculous. We need another "entitlement program" like we need a f***ing hole in our heads.

On the subject of Mr. Tauzin's new career.....there is no law that prevents a former Congressman from taking any particular job in the private sector. But I must admit, it is a pretty glaring revelation of his motivations while he was in office.

Mike

__________________
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1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
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1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
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1985 300TD
270,000 miles
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1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
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A situation does not have to be "illegal" to illustrate a serious problem with corporate lobbying and special interests determining public policy. With a former Congressman as their representative, pulling down a few million a year, the drug industry now has a lobbyist with access to lawmakers in places that others don't, since former Congressmen still get access to the non-public areas of the Capitol and other venues. When public service becomes the path to self-profit, at the expense of the electorate, then it is an issue. Remember that old philosophy that applied to the judiciar of avoiding "even the appearance of impropriety?" It's not a bad idea for our other elected officials.