The political spending of pharma, analyzed

Drug makers and their trade groups have cut checks to 356 lawmakers — more than two-thirds of Congress — ahead of this year’s election, according to a sweeping new analysis. It's a barrage of spending, and it comes as the industry is working to rehabilitate its image in Washington by battling Covid-19.

“It’s less about a particular deliverable and more about creating a relationship,” one political analyst told STAT. “And, maybe, greasing the skids on a particular issue for which a company has great concern or sees great opportunity. On Covid, it’s certainly both — these corporations are being called to the aid of a country in crisis.”

STAT’s Lev Facher and Kaitlyn Bartley have assembled a comprehensive guide to how pharmaceutical dollars have been distributed among politicians during this election season thus far.