The pharmaceutical industry isn't going to just sit back and take it.
Days after members of a Congressional committee took turns bashing drug executives accused of ripping off consumers, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the powerful trade group that represents drug companies, announced it will be amping up its advertising budget in an attempt to dissuade both voters and lawmakers from supporting restrictions on the industry.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the group is already blanketing social media with messages about the benefits of the millions of dollars in medical research undertaken by its member companies, such as Bayer, Pfizer and GlaxoKlineSmith.
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The message PhRMA is championing, above all else, is that efforts that might restrict the profits of its members could jeopardize the billions of dollars drug companies pour into developing life-saving medical innovations.
But the main emphasis of the communications effort, drug executives tell the Wall Street Journal, is not the general public but D.C. insiders. That means policy wonks at think tanks, federal regulators and, of course, members of Congress.
Robert Hugin, CEO of Celgene, put it bluntly:
"We've identified 7,000 Americans who matter," he said. "We're focusing on [people] in policy positions, talking to patient groups, to fight structural issues."
Although PhRMA has long been a major player on Capitol Hill, it has likely been a while since it has felt so threatened by criticism of the pharmaceutical industry.
Although critics of drug companies have existed as long as the companies themselves, denunciations of medical prices have become extremely mainstream in the past year. Not only have both Democratic presidential candidates called for reforms, but Republicans in Congress have launched an investigation into firms behind some of the most dramatic price increases.
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