Under the Influence: 60 Minutes’ report on the role drug lobbyists play in keeping drug prices high
60 Minutes recently aired a special on pharmaceutical lobbyists and the roles they play in Congress. One of the reasons why pharmaceutical profits are so high is because of the Medicare prescription drug bill. It was passed three and a half years ago in the middle of the night, long after most people had switched off C-SPAN and gone to sleep. The only witnesses were staffers, lobbyists, and U.S. Representatives. According to Representative Walter Jones, the pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote the bill, which was over 1,000 pages. People were being coerced to vote for the bill, with much of the credit to former Congressman Billy Tauzin, a Republican from Louisiana who steered it through the House.
To read the full CBS report on the pharmaceutical lobbying campaign.
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