Avandia and GlaxoSmithKline

Avandia is a drug that’s been making news in a big way recently, including its supposed success in treating diabetes, the scrutiny it’s drawn from consumer groups, some medical professionals and civil lawsuit plaintiffs around the country and recently the FDA, a panel of experts and Congress. The message has been somewhat muddled because of so many parties firing salvos on both sides of the issue of whether or not Avandia should be removed from circulation. When an issue becomes political in nature, it’s a reality in our society that one of the best ways to understand why certain parties take their positions is to follow the money. Below are the results of a brief search of public records that pertain to political contributions made by GlaxoSmithKline in recent times.

North Carolina

The Triangle Business Journal ran an interesting article a few years ago that gave some details of GSK’s overall contribution record with ties to that state. At the time, GSK was the top overall contributor to political campaigns, and its political action committee contributed $1.27 million in 2001 and 2002, and 76% of the donations from GSK’s PAC went to Republicans.

California

California is a state that always includes several propositions/referendums on its election ballots, and this was the case during its 2005 special election. One of those propositions was number 78, which would have established a discount drug program for low-income families, whereby prescription drugs were to be offered at substantially lower rates, with a rebate eventually being paid by the state back to the drug companies. GSK contributed almost $10 million in support of this measure, which was ultimately defeated by the voters.

National Campaigns

We found a notation that only covers the year 2003, but during that year, GSK in the United States and in the UK separately made donations to the George W. Bush campaign that totaled nearly $1 million. Not to mention, a list of the top 20 politicians in terms of the amount of money received from drug companies in general revealed a clear party persuasion. 16 of the 20 listed on the donation list were Republicans.

Overall, this is just a snapshot of the political money that’s being thrown around to further pharmaceutical interests. Although it is anyone’s right to contribute, it needs to be tracked so that when policy is revealed, the “dots can be connected” in terms of why a political body may be deciding one way or the other. If you have been harmed as a result of taking Avandia, please contact an Avandia lawyer immediately to schedule a free initial consultation.