House's [Congress) Author of Drug Benefit Joins Lobbyists

[rodeodance]

the ultimate low blow!!!
this guy switched from a Dem to Repug awhile ago!!

"http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/16/politics/16drug.html?th"


House's Author of Drug Benefit Joins Lobbyists
By ROBERT PEAR

Published: December 16, 2004


WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Representative Billy Tauzin, a principal author of the new Medicare drug law, will become president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the chief lobby for brand-name drug companies, the trade group announced Wednesday.

"This industry understands that it's got a problem," Mr. Tauzin, a Louisiana lawmaker who is retiring from Congress, said in an interview. "It has to earn the trust and confidence of consumers again."

Miles D. White, chairman of Abbott Laboratories and of the trade association, sitting next to Mr. Tauzin, said he agreed that the industry had lost the trust of millions of Americans.

Mr. Tauzin, a onetime Democrat who became a Republican in 1995, has a wealth of connections in Congress, where he has served for 24 years.

Drug makers said that the job was not a reward for Mr. Tauzin's work on the Medicare bill, which followed the industry's specifications in many respects. The law was signed by President Bush on Dec. 8, 2003, a few weeks before a lawyer for Mr. Tauzin began talks with the drug trade group.

[NashVegas]

1. duplicate - locking

discuss here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1073780