"Orphan Drug Veto Heats up Lobbying"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Orphan Drug Veto Heats up Lobbying"

Washington Post (12/26/90), P. E15
Anderson, Jack, and Van Atta, Dale

Abstract: Intense Congressional lobbying to water down the bill to amend the Orphan Drug Act backfired when President Bush vetoed the toothless resultant legislation, write Jack Anderson and Dale Van Atta for the Washington Post. The 1983 Orphan Drug Act encouraged the development of drugs that otherwise would not exist for rare diseases, but the lack of price controls resulted in millions of dollars in profits for some biotech firms. Congress tried to curb the high profits by introducing competition, and the biotech companies began a large-scale lobbying campaign. Bush's veto of the compromise legislation took Capitol Hill by surprise. Congressional sources said biotech companies had convinced the ill-informed White House, particularly the gullible Council on Competitiveness, led by Vice President Quayle, to oppose strong revisions to the law. The veto will force the biotech companies to call back their lobbyists, and those who suffer rare diseases are still the losers, Anderson and Van Atta conclude.

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