Politics

Orrin Hatch's Drug Problems

By Diane Farsetta

"At the same time the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) was paying one of [Senator Orrin G. Hatch's] sons, Scott, to be its lobbyist in Congress," it and its drug company members were making major donations to a nonprofit organization that Senator Hatch helped found and actively supports. In 2007, the Utah Families Foundation received $40,000 from PhRMA, $30,000 from Barr Pharmaceuticals, $27,500 from Sepracor, $25,000 from Eli Lilly, $25,000 from Becton Dickerson, and another $25,000 from AstraZeneca. Information about the nonprofit group's major donors was mistakenly included in public postings of its report to the IRS. Because Senator Hatch isn't on Utah Families Foundation's Board of Directors, the drug industry donations to the nonprofit didn't trigger federal disclosure requirements. Pharmaceutical and health-product companies have donated $1.25 million directly to Senator Hatch's campaigns since 1998, and paid for seven trips he took in 2006 alone. Scott Hatch, a lobbyist at the firm Walker Martin & Hatch -- which counts PhRMA, drug and medical companies among its clients -- says he doesn't lobby his dad.

Full post as published by PR Watch on March 05, 2009 (boomark / email).