A record year for US pharma lobbyng in 2007, with spend reaching $168 million

In the USA, Washington DC's largest lobby, the pharmaceutical industry, "racked up another banner year on Capitol Hill in 2007, backed by a record $168.0 million lobbying effort," according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal lobbying data. Among the industry's successes: getting two controversial laws extended and thwarting congressional efforts to restrict media advertisements for prescription drugs, it says.

The spending represents a 32% jump over 2006. Driven in part by a busy legislative calendar dominated by issues critical to the industry, the effort raised the amount spent by drug interests on federal lobbying in the past decade to more than $1.0 billion. Pharmaceutical, medical device, and other health product manufacturers, together, spent more than $189.0 million on lobbying last year, another record and nearly three times the $67.0 million they spent in 1998, the first full year for which complete records and totals are available, the CPI noted.

More than 90% of the total was spent by 40 companies and three trade groups: the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association.