Senate race opponents attack Deutsch's ties to drugmakers
Fellow candidates are criticizing the Democratic congressman for accepting $41,200 in contributions from drug companies since 1994.
By ANITA KUMAR
Published June 11, 2004
A Broward County pharmaceutical company was pressing the federal government three years ago to approve a new generic heart drug, but the Food and Drug Administration was taking its time.
So Andrx Corp. got an assist from its congressman, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Hollywood, who wrote a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging swift approval.
A week after Deutsch wrote the letter, three Andrx employees gave $1,000 each to his re-election campaign.
It's unclear what role Deutsch's letter played in the FDA's approval two years later. But Andrx and its executives have been steady Deutsch supporters, donating at least $20,000 since 1992.
The total includes $5,000 to Deutsch's current campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Andrx is not the only pharmaceutical company to support Deutsch. Since 1994, drug companies have given $41,200 to Deutsch or his political action committee, the Center for Responsive Politics reports.
The donors include drug giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturers of dozens of medicines including the antidepressant Paxil and the allergy drug Flonase.
Deutsch's pharmaceutical ties have come under fire by his leading Democratic opponents, former state education commissioner Betty Castor and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas. They say they won't take money from drugmakers and have called on Deutsch to do the same.
Deutsch says campaign contributions from drug companies do not influence his policies.
"If they're right, I will support them," Deutsch said. "If they're wrong, I won't support them. I'm going to fight for people and do the right thing."
Deutsch said he is proud of the bipartisan effort supported by a dozen governors and the AFL-CIO to get cheaper, generic drugs on the market and saving consumers millions of dollars.
"It's not about contributions," Deutsch said. "It's about the contributions each of us has made on health reform. I've been on the front lines fighting for a quarter of a century. I've been a leader in fighting to reduce healthcare costs for seniors."
Deutsch says pharmaceutical money comprises a fraction of the millions he has raised over the years.
The issue arose during a candidate debate in Naples this week in response to a question about the high cost of health care.
"I think part of the problem is that we have too much money from the pharmaceutical companies, from their political action committees and from their executives in this debate," Penelas said.
"They have too much influence in issues at the federal level," Castor said.
All three candidates oppose last year's prescription drug bill forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for bulk discounts.
Penelas returned $500 from an employee of COS Pharmaceuticals earlier this year and has not accepted any other donations from drug makers, said spokeswoman Danae Jones.
The pharmaceutical industry has contributed millions of dollars to members of Congress annually through soft money, political action committees and individuals. In the 2000-02 election cycle the industry donated almost $22-million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Jason Brodsky, an FDA spokesman in Washington, said the FDA's approval process is not based on lobbying, even by members of Congress. "The FDA's approval process is based on science," he said.
On March 19, 2001, Deutsch and Republicans Dan Burton of Indiana and Ken Calvert of California, all members of the Government Reform Committee, wrote a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson asking the FDA to intervene in a legal battle between Andrx and Biovail, manufacturer of blood pressure drug Tiazac.
On March 28, Chih Ming Chen, an Andrx principal, and Jane Chen, an Andrx pharmacist, each contributed $1,000 to Deutsch, according to campaign records. Two days later, Andrx president Elliot Hahn did the same. Alan Cohen, Andrx founder and CEO, gave $1,000 in May 2001.
Deutsch went to bat for Andrx again in 2001.
In October of that year Deutsch asked the FDA that Andrx be allowed to release a generic version of the ulcer drug Prilosec. The company held a 180-day generic marketing exclusivity for the drug, and had about $65-million invested in the sale.
"We respectfully encourage your consideration of a proposal made by the generic manufacturer, Andrx, whereby the FDA would grant final marketing approval to the generic in return for guarantees," Deutsch wrote Thompson on Oct. 26, 2001. The letter was a followup to a call to the FDA's acting commissioner.
Founded in 1992, Andrx is a publicly traded company with $1-billion in annual revenues and 2,100 employees in Florida, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Ohio. The company makes myriad generic and brand-name drugs, including Altoor, which lowers cholesterol.
In the late 1990s, a federal judge found Andrx guilty of accepting $89-million from a new competitor to delay the marketing of the generic heart drug Cartia XT.
The competitor stood to gain hundreds of millions of dollars by selling its drug at higher prices. The Federal Trade Commission alleged the agreement stifled competition and hurt consumers.
Consumer groups, such as AARP, usually prefer generic drugs be put on the market quickly because they are often much cheaper than brand names, but they refrain from lobbying on behalf of one company.
"They're companies, too," AARP spokesman Carol Shirley said. "They're in it to make a profit as well."
- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report. Anita Kumar can be reached at kumar@sptimes.com or 727 893-8472.
