Eight midterm races putting pharma — and its influence — front and center
WASHINGTON — A Republican political group is attempting to turn West Virginia’s race for Senate into a referendum over which candidate is more beholden to the pharmaceutical industry.
It is a bold strategy: Their own candidate, Republican nominee Patrick Morrisey, is a longtime pharmaceutical industry lobbyist.
Morrisey, the state’s attorney general, lobbied Capitol Hill in the early 2000s on behalf of drug makers including Celgene, Sanofi, and Novartis, according to a STAT review of lobbying disclosures. He has also lobbied on behalf of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, the trade group representing the country’s major wholesalers. Those companies are now the subject of numerous lawsuits and investigations pertaining to their role in the opioid crisis.
The candidate’s deep ties to Big Pharma, however, have not deterred
