Bigs on Boondoggles Thanks to Big Pharm

This article comes from my new favorite site: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Just look what the “bigs” have been up to as the rest of us attempt to eke out a living. -- Dot Calm.

Drug Makers' “Dime” Funds Congressional Travel
Pharmaceutical Companies and Affiliated Trade Groups Spent More than $600,000 on Trips

By Robert Brodsky and Kaitlin Hasseler

WASHINGTON, August 30, 2006--Members of Congress and their aides accepted more than $600,000 in free travel from pharmaceutical interests during a 5½-year period in which drug company profits climbed, in part due to federal legislation favorable to the industry.

Dozens of the trips were approved by lawmakers, who had significant personal interests in the pharmaceutical industry or later worked with drug-makers. Almost all of those same legislators voted in favor of the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Act, which led to a windfall of profits for the industry.

"It's been a highly profitable trade-off" for pharmaceutical companies, said James Love, a drug industry critic and the director of the nonprofit Consumer Project on Technology. "They give out some free perks, hand out some rides on private jets, sponsor some trips and give some campaign donations. And in return, they make billions."