In 2024, the healthcare sector spent $743.9 million on federal lobbying—$10 million less than 2023’s $745 million but maintaining its position as the largest lobbying sector in the United States for the 26th consecutive year. Pharmaceutical and health products companies led healthcare spending …
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of AmericaAmerican Medical AssociationAmerican Hospital AssociationPharmaceutical Care Management AssociationHealth insurance industry+1 morelobbyinghealthcarepharmaceutical-industrysystematic-corruptionregulatory-capture+1 more
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Purdue Pharma’s $6 billion bankruptcy settlement that would have granted the Sackler family—who extracted over $10 billion from Purdue while the company fueled the opioid epidemic—broad immunity from all current and future civil lawsuits. The …
U.S. Supreme CourtSackler FamilyPurdue PharmaDepartment of Justiceopioid-crisispharmaceutical-industrycorruptionregulatory-captureaccountability-failure+1 more
Former FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, who led the agency during the Emergency Use Authorization of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, took an executive-level position as Chief Medical Officer with Flagship Pioneering, the venture capital firm that launched Moderna. This transition occurred six …
Stephen HahnFlagship PioneeringModernaFood and Drug Administration (FDA)Noubar Afeyan+1 moreregulatory-capturepharmaceutical-industryrevolving-doorcovid-19fda
Dr. Stephen Hahn, former FDA Commissioner who led the agency during COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations, joined Flagship Pioneering as Chief Medical Officer on June 16, 2021. The move came six months after the FDA granted emergency use authorization to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. …
Stephen HahnFlagship PioneeringModernaFDAregulatory-capturepharmaceutical-industryconflict-of-interestcovid-pandemicfda-oversight
AbbVie completed its $63 billion acquisition of Allergan after FTC approval requiring divestiture of digestive drug brazikumab to resolve antitrust concerns. The merger created a pharmaceutical giant with combined 2019 revenues of $48 billion and a diversified portfolio spanning immunology, …
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AbbVie reached settlement agreements with eight biosimilar manufacturers that allowed immediate biosimilar competition in Europe starting October 16, 2018, but delayed all US market entry until 2023—seven years after Humira’s original patent expired in December 2016. The settlements ended …
AbbVieAmgenSamsung BioepisMylanBoehringer Ingelheim+3 morepharmaceutical-industrypatent-abusedrug-pricinghealthcareevergreening+2 more
On January 24, 2018, the Senate confirmed Alex Azar as Secretary of Health and Human Services by a vote of 55-43, installing as the nation’s top healthcare regulator a pharmaceutical executive who had overseen dramatic insulin price increases during his decade at Eli Lilly. As President of …
Alex AzarEli LillyDepartment of Health and Human ServicesRon WydenDonald Trumprevolving-doorregulatory-capturehealthcarepharmaceutical-industryinsulin-pricing+3 more
Johns Hopkins researchers published findings demonstrating that pharmaceutical companies were systematically gaming the 1983 Orphan Drug Act by obtaining orphan drug designations—intended for treatments of rare diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans—for blockbuster drugs generating billions …
Johns Hopkins UniversityFDAAbbVieRocheJohnson & Johnson+4 morepharmaceutical-industryregulatory-capturetax-avoidancedrug-pricinghealthcare+2 more
Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ October 2015 disclosure of its relationship with specialty pharmacy Philidor Rx Services triggered the unraveling of a systematic drug price gouging scheme that had raised prices on dozens of medications by 50-3000% over two years. Under CEO Michael Pearson, Valeant …
Valeant PharmaceuticalsJ. Michael PearsonPhilidor Rx ServicesWilliam AckmanSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)+2 morepharmaceutical-industrydrug-pricinghealthcarecorporate-fraudsystematic-corruption+1 more
The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 in FTC v. Actavis that the Federal Trade Commission could bring antitrust challenges against “pay-for-delay” agreements where brand-name drug manufacturers pay generic competitors to delay bringing cheaper alternatives to market. The decision reversed lower …
Supreme Court of the United StatesFederal Trade CommissionSolvay PharmaceuticalsActavisWatson Pharmaceuticals+1 morepharmaceutical-industrypatent-abuseregulatory-captureantitrustsupreme-court+2 more
On December 5, 2012, Elizabeth “Liz” Fowler announced her departure from the White House to join Johnson & Johnson as head of global health policy, completing her third spin through the healthcare industry revolving door. Fowler had served as the chief architect of the Affordable …
Elizabeth FowlerJohnson & JohnsonWellPointMax BaucusBarack Obama+1 morerevolving-doorregulatory-capturehealthcarelobbyingpharmaceutical-industry+3 more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began investigating a multistate fungal meningitis outbreak in September 2012 that ultimately killed 64 people and sickened 798 individuals across multiple states who received contaminated methylprednisolone steroid injections from the New England …
New England Compounding CenterBarry CaddenFDAMassachusetts Board of PharmacyCDC+1 morepharmaceutical-industryregulatory-capturefdahealthcarepublic-health+1 more
Jeffrey Siegel, an FDA staff member specializing in arthritis drug reviews, oversaw the 2010 approval of Genentech tocilizumab (Actemra) for arthritis treatment. Within months of the approval, Siegel left the FDA to join Genentech and its parent company Roche as director of the division that …
On April 5, 2010, the FDA approved Purdue Pharma’s reformulated OxyContin designed to make it more difficult to crush, snort, or inject—14 years after the original drug’s launch and three years after the company’s guilty plea to criminal misbranding. Purdue ceased shipping the old …
The Obama White House secretly negotiated an $80 billion deal with pharmaceutical industry lobbyists, abandoning the president’s campaign promise to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. White House officials Jim Messina and Rahm Emanuel met with PhRMA CEO Billy Tauzin, agreeing to maintain …
Questcor Pharmaceuticals implemented an overnight price increase for H.P. Acthar Gel from $1,600 to $23,000 per vial on August 27, 2007, launching a decade-long price gouging scheme that would eventually raise the drug’s price by 97,000% from its 2001 level. Questcor had acquired Acthar—a …
Questcor PharmaceuticalsMallinckrodtFederal Trade CommissionHumanaCongress+1 morepharmaceutical-industrydrug-pricinghealthcarecorporate-fraudbribery+2 more
Merck voluntarily withdraws Vioxx (rofecoxib) from the market after concealing evidence that the blockbuster arthritis drug increases heart attack and stroke risk. Internal company documents reveal that Merck knew of cardiovascular dangers years before withdrawal, while the FDA failed to act on …
MerckFood and Drug Administration (FDA)David GrahamRaymond Gilmartinhealthcarepharmaceutical-industryregulatory-capturefdadrug-safety+1 more
The House of Representatives passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act at 5:53 AM after an unprecedented 3-hour vote that House leaders held open for nearly three hours past the normal 15-minute voting period to secure enough votes. The legislation created Medicare …
Billy TauzinHouse Energy and Commerce CommitteePhRMAMedicareregulatory-capturehealthcarepharmaceutical-industrycongressional-corruptionlobbying
The average price of insulin in the United States began a decade-long tripling from $231 per patient annually in 2002 to $762 in 2013, according to congressional hearing data—with some patients paying up to $900 per month for insulin products that cost $4.34 per milliliter in 2002 but reached $12.92 …
Eli LillyNovo NordiskSanofiCongressional Diabetes CaucusBig Pharmapharmaceutical-industrydrug-pricinghealthcaremonopolyinsulin-crisis+1 more
Purdue Pharma’s lucrative bonus system paid sales representatives an average of $71,500 in annual bonuses—more than their $55,000 base salary—with bonuses ranging from $15,000 to nearly $240,000. In 2001 alone, Purdue paid $40 million in sales incentive bonuses, systematically incentivizing …
President Clinton signs the FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA), codifying accelerated drug approval pathways developed during the AIDS crisis while expanding provisions favorable to pharmaceutical manufacturers including streamlined advertising approval. The law accelerates the transformation of FDA from …
Bill ClintonPharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of AmericaFood and Drug Administration (FDA)James Jeffordshealthcarepharmaceutical-industryregulatory-capturefdadrug-safety
In a landmark case of regulatory capture, Dr. Curtis Wright IV, leading the FDA’s Division of Anesthetic, Critical Care, and Addiction Drug Products, approved OxyContin with controversial language that misrepresented the drug’s addictive potential. Wright held private meetings with …
Curtis Wright IVPurdue PharmaFood and Drug Administration (FDA)Division of Anesthetic, Critical Care, and Addiction Drug ProductsDepartment of Justiceregulatory-capturepharmaceutical-industryopioid-crisisfda-corruptionpublic-health
The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) of 1992 fundamentally restructured FDA drug approval financing by creating a direct financial relationship between pharmaceutical companies and regulators. The Act mandated drug companies pay fees to fund FDA drug reviews, which eventually comprised up to …
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of AmericaU.S. CongressPharmaceutical Companiesregulatory-capturepharmaceutical-industryfdagovernment-fundinginstitutional-transformation
President Reagan signs the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, known as Hatch-Waxman, which ostensibly balances pharmaceutical innovation incentives with generic competition but creates loopholes that brand-name manufacturers exploit to extend monopoly pricing for decades. The …
Orrin HatchHenry WaxmanRonald ReaganPharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of Americahealthcarepharmaceutical-industryregulatory-capturepatent-abuselobbying
On October 10, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the Kefauver-Harris Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, fundamentally transforming pharmaceutical regulation in the United States. The legislation, driven by the thalidomide disaster in Europe, required drug manufacturers to …
Senator Estes KefauverRepresentative Oren HarrisPresident John F. KennedyFrances KelseyRichardson-Merrell+1 moreregulatory-reformpharmaceutical-industrypublic-healthcorporate-lobbyingfda