Dark money, Facebook, and an anti-pharma mystery

The ads have been appearing in right-leaning corners of Facebook for months, costing more than $100,000 and spreading a simple message: Drugs are too expensive, and pharma is to blame.

But who’s bankrolling the effort? STAT’s Ike Swetlitz did some diggingon Citizens for Truth in Drug Pricing, the group behind the ads, and found ties to conservative forces in Washington but little in the way of specifics. The group’s spokesman is a well-known Republican communications professional, and it has targeted its ads to the Facebook pages of conservative radio hosts.

The money, however, remains a mystery. Citizens for Truth in Drug Pricing is a tax-exempt organization that isn’t required to disclose its donors.

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