Capitol Alert: Drug company gives after Jerry Brown signs STD prevention bill

Two days after Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation allowing children 12 and older to seek medical care for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent - including vaccinations against human papillomavirus, or HPV - a pharmaceutical company with a financial interest in HPV vaccines donated $8,000 to Brown's re-election campaign.

Brown's office said the contribution was not solicited, and AstraZeneca PLC said it was unrelated to Brown's action on the controversial bill.

"AstraZeneca's contributions to government officials in California are unrelated to the legislation," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail. "We provided contributions to people on both sides of the issue and did not lobby the measure."

An AstraZeneca subsidiary developed technology used in several HPV vaccines, for which the company receives royalties.

Brown spokesman Gil Duran said Brown decides legislation "on the merits of each bill." He said, "To our knowledge, no one in our office has had any contact with this company."

Brown signed Assembly Bill 499, by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, on Oct. 9, hours before a deadline to act on hundreds of bills sent by the Legislature this fall. He acted on dozens of others the same day. Brown's campaign fund received the the drug company contribution on Oct. 11, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Brown, a Democrat, has done little fundraising since taking office in January, collecting about $45,000 in the first half of the year. He has not said if he will seek re-election in 2014.

Editor's Note: This post was updated to remove reference to AstraZeneca being based in Britain.The company entity that made the contribution is based in Delaware. Updated 6:07 p.m., Oct. 24, 2011.

via blogs.sacbee.com

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