PHARMA CARES. You may have had your daily Law & Order time interrupted recently by ads congratulating legislators who voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug bill, and blasting those who didn't. The ads were paid for by the Chamber of Commerce -- only they weren't. It turns out the pharmaceutical industry -- the main beneficiary of Medicare�s expansion -- have actually been footing the bill, while the CofC attaches its name to the closing credits. And this isn't the first time Pharma has funded ads supporting their agenda but lacking their byline: Back in May 2002, the United Seniors Association stepped forward with a $10-million blitz praising the new Medicare bill. Officials from USA first denied that Pharma picked up the cost, and then admitted the campaign was paid for through an "educational grant" from the industry. Now, the only question is why Pharma is so ecstatic over a Medicare plan that supposedly offers severe discounts on their medications. One of their spokesmen bragged that "millions of Medicare patients who previously had no prescription drug coverage are now benefiting from substantial discounts negotiated by Medicare drug plans." You'd think their shareholders would be a bit worried about a business strategy centered around giving out discounts that were negotiated through a new government program. Luckily, Big Pharma is simply too altruistic to care.
--Ezra Klein
