• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

USA Today: Senators with industry ties limited FDA powers

Pharma Compliance Alert, May 23, 2007

Pharmaceutical muckraking has hit USA Today, with the paper reporting that senators who helped limit FDA powers in a new drug safety bill also received millions of dollars in campaign donations from pharma companies.

USA Today analyzed public records and interviews for the story, which seeks to link weakened drug safety legislation to industry influence. For example, the paper says that the 49 senators who voted against drug importation received $5 million from industry-tied groups since 2001.

The USA Today report also points to Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan), Judd Gregg (R-NH), and even bill sponsors Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), all of whom raised thousands of dollars each in drug interests.

Earlier this month, The New York Times analyzed drug companies' public reports of payments to Minnesota doctors, intending to link financial relationships to an increase in the use of antipsychotic drugs in children.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive