When Congress turns to healthcare, healthcare turns to lobbying--and pharma is no exception. During the first half of 2007, the healthcare industry spent $227 million on lobbying, an all-time high. Of the 10 groups that spent most, five were healthcare organizations. Three of those were pharma types: PhRMA (the industry trade group), Pfizer and Amgen. PhRMA spent $10.7 million, and Amgen shelled out $9.1 million [1].

Capitol Hill observers say the dollars probably were aimed at the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, which Congress is still in the throes of renewing [2]. For its part, PhRMA said it spent lots of green to trumpet the "success of Medicare Part D." (That includes a new report that shows monthly drug costs for the previously uncovered fell 45 percent under Part D.) Plus, a number of seats in Congress changed hands, so there were lots of new palms to grease.

- see this article [3] in Congressional Quarterly
- read the Wall Street Journal report [4]

Related Articles:
Amgen ups lobbying efforts. Report [5]
Abiomed shells out $100,000 to lobby feds. Report [6]
Biomedical researchers lobby against funding cuts. Report [7]
Bay area biotechs plan new lobbying strategy. Report [8]
BIO 2005: A focus on lobbying. Report [9]