Number of the Week: $120 Million
Health Care

Number of the Week: $120 Million

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The 34 member companies of PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry trade group, spent more than $120 million lobbying Congress in 2019, according to STAT, which cited the companies recently released federal disclosures.

Those millions helped pay for more than 450 lobbyists, “who helped the drug makers and their trade group vehemently oppose the sweeping proposals lawmakers and the Trump administration put forth in their efforts to lower prescription drug prices,” STAT’s Nicholas Florko reports.

PhRMA spent $28.9 million on lobbying in 2019, surpassing the record it set last year of $27.5 million.

“Drug makers are also likely spending far more than the amounts listed in the public disclosures,” Florko writes. “Organizations are only required to report the money they spend directly lobbying Congress. They do not have to report how much they spend on advertising campaigns or the consultants and lawyers they employ to influence legislation but who do not directly try to influence lawmakers.”

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