Inside STAT: How Joe Grogan, a former pharma lobbyist, upended Trump’s drug pricing agenda

JOE GROGAN, RIGHT, LISTENS DURING A CEREMONY IN THE OVAL OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Even before President Trump announced a sweeping new plan to lower drug prices in May 2018, there was opposition to the plan — but the unlikely opponent was someone within the administration. A former lobbyist for Gilead Sciences, White House budget adviser Joe Grogan refused to sign off on the speech in which the plan was to be announced as well as the plan itself, STAT’s Lev Facher in Washington reports. Only some shouting — over speakerphone, no less — from HHS secretary Alex Azar’s staff ensured that Grogan backed off. But his attempts to roll back the policy have continued, leaving a wake of disgruntled West Wing aides and disenchanted conservative advocacy groups. Read more on Grogan, who is now director of the president’s Domestic Policy Council.