The country’s largest drug lobby, PhRMA, spent $6.9 million during the first three months of this year on lobbying expenses, an almost 40 percent jump from what it spent on average per quarter last year. The biggest reason for all the new hires? Democrats. The lobby is particularly targeting Sen. Baucus — the leading reform figure and Sen. Kennedy alternative to a more conservative approach to Obama’s proposed healthcare reform package. Recall that PhRMA recently pledged $80M to the healthcare reform effort, with 2/3 going to fund, among other things, a so-called “reform fee”, which will charge pharma companies a fee to cover any difference between the cost of Medicare, Medicaid and biogenerics programs and the $80M spending commitment. Are PhRMA lobbyists trying to pre-empt efforts of some congressional Democrats’ attempts at industry price controls as part of the reform package? | LINK

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