ICYMI: The Intercept - “Big Pharma Paid LGBT Groups and Others That Opposed California Drug-Price Ballot Measure (Prop. 61)...
October 28 2016 - 6:45PM
Business Wire
Today, The Intercept published an article by investigative
reporter Lee Fang titled “Big Pharma Paid LGBT Groups and Others
That Opposed California Drug-Price Ballot Measure,” also know as
Proposition 61, the California Drug Price Relief Act.
In the article, Fang notes that two competing San
Francisco-based LGBT Democratic groups – “the leftist Harvey Milk
Democratic Club and the centrist Alice B. Toklas Democratic
Club,” both “announced in September that they would be
opposing Proposition 61, the high-profile initiative to lower drug
prices.” “Unknown to many activists in the city,” Fang wrote, “this
act of political camaraderie appears to have been rewarded by the
pharmaceutical industry, which cut each club a $5,000 check
from a fund set up to defeat the drug price initiative. Neither
LGBT group, both of which have sent voter guides to city residents,
revealed the donation on their website.”
Fang added, “The money was disclosed in filings
made on Thursday that showed 19 different civic
organizations, from the Foreign Legion to a
bilingual voter guide organization, taking drug industry
funds and endorsing No on Prop 61.” “Over half a million dollars
flowed to groups sending out a variety of voter guides urging
a vote against Prop 61,” Fang revealed. “The practice of selling
voter guide endorsements, though shunned by many consultants, is a
common trick for interest groups seeking to buy the appearance of
widespread support.”
The Intercept also notes that “Three of the veterans groups that
endorsed No on Prop 61 and appeared in a television advertisement
against the measure — the American Legion of California, Veterans
of Foreign Wars of California and the Vietnam Veterans of America
CA State Council — all received direct payments from the PhRMA
fund, the filings reveal. Other veterans groups that have
campaigned against the initiative, including the American GI Forum,
also received drug industry money.”
Read the article in its entirety here:
https://theintercept.com/2016/10/28/lgbt-drug-price/
“We’ve been highlighting the bought-and-paid-for opponents of 61
for months,” said Garry South, lead strategist for Yes on Prop. 61.
“Most of the opposition to Prop. 61 comes from Big Pharma itself,
who has bankrolled the entire effort to save their drug profits, or
from groups that have serious financial ties to the drug lobby.
Californians aren’t fooled. They can’t be bought and paid for like
so many of these so-called advocacy groups that are acting as
shills for Pharma.”
For more details on the financial links to the drug industry of
those opposed to Proposition 61, visit
www.FollowTheDrugDollars.com
Prop. 61 is the only vehicle available in this election year for
Californians to address the high cost of life-saving drugs.
Proposition 61 would require the state of California to negotiate
with drug companies for drug prices that are no more than is paid
for the same drugs by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (DVA).
Unlike Medicare, the DVA negotiates for drug prices on behalf of
the millions of veterans it serves, and pays on average 20-24
percent less for medications than other government agencies, and up
to 40 percent less than Medicare Part D. Prop. 61 empowers the
state, as the healthcare buyer for millions of Californians, to
negotiate the same or an even better deal for taxpayers, saving the
state billions.
www.Yeson61.comPaid for by Yes on
Prop. 61, Californians for Lower Drug Prices, With Major Funding by
AIDS Healthcare Foundation and California Nurses Association PAC.
FPPC ID#1376791
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161028005939/en/
Yes on Prop. 61Roger Salazar,
916-284-1255RSalazar@AlzaMedia.com