Some congressional Democrats have alleged that PhRMA President Billy Tauzin began negotiations for the position at the same time he, as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, helped pass the 2003 Medicare law, but Tauzin "definitely seems innocent of the charge" based on information in a letter sent to all members of Congress on Monday, Roll Call Executive Editor Morton Kondracke writes in a opinion piece.
According to Kondracke, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in December 2005 in a privileged resolution said that Tauzin was "actively engaged in a job search with the pharmaceutical industry at the same time he was negotiating on major provisions of the bill."
Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) in the past month have made similar allegations against Tauzin, and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) have implied that his position at PhRMA was a "payoff" for his help in the passage of the Medicare law, Kondracke writes.
However, according to Kondracke, attorney Charles Work, who represents Tauzin, first received a telephone call about the PhRMA position in late December 2003 -- weeks after President Bush had signed the Medicare law -- and time sheets indicate that negotiations between Tauzin and PhRMA began on Jan. 15, 2004. Kondracke writes that, although congressional Democrats "can attack Tauzin ... for taking" the position at PhRMA, "it's dirty pool to charge that he was dickering with PhRMA when he wrote" the Medicare law (Kondracke, Roll Call, 3/6).
Well. That's a relief! It would be terrible if was otherwise, wouldn't it?
Medical News Today
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