Davis has taken nearly $318,000 from Big Pharma and health insurance PACs over the course of his career and has voted to benefit the industries’ bottom line
The Alliance for Patient Access, a dark money group backed by Big Pharma, is out with mailers in Illinois supporting Congressman Rodney Davis (IL-13). Davis, a longtime ally of Big Pharma, has taken nearly $318,000 from Big Pharma and health insurance PACs. Now that he’s facing the toughest election of his career, the industry is stepping up to keep their favorite Congressman in office so that their interests are protected.
The Alliance has also taken money from some of the largest pharmaceutical companies such as Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer.
“Instead of working to make healthcare affordable and accessible for Illinoisans, Rodney Davis has voted time and again to protect Big Pharma’s interests while also cashing their corporate PAC checks. Now that he faces the most difficult election of his career, Alliance for Patient Access is rushing in to save his campaign,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Meanwhile, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is rejecting corporate PAC money and she’ll have the integrity and courage to stand up to Big Pharma and do right by families in the district. We’ll continue to expose Rodney Davis and his special interest friends.”
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“Also in the 13th District race, a group that backs Londrigan is pointing out that a flier sent out calling Davis a ‘2020 champion of patient access’ is from a group significantly funded by pharmaceutical companies. The flier was sent by the Alliance for Patient Access.”
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“A 2019 Associated Press story said the alliance ‘gives off a consumer-friendly vibe yet is bankrolled by the powerful pharmaceutical industry.’”
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“Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, which has endorsed Londrigan, said Davis has ‘voted time and again to protect big pharma’s interests while also cashing their corporate PAC checks.’”
In 2017, Davis voted for the GOP tax bill, which gave $76 billion in tax cuts to Big Pharma. In 2019, Davis voted against the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3), a bill that would lift the ban put in place by politicians corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry to lower prescription drug prices for everyday Americans.
From 1998-2017, the drug industry spent $3.7 billion on lobbying, which is $1 billion more than any other industry. Since 1990, Big Pharma has made over $210 million in campaign contributions alone. In 2018, the pharmaceutical industry hired nearly 1,470 lobbyists, nearly three lobbyists for every single member of the House. As their lobbying efforts grew, Big Pharma continued to raise prescription drug prices, increasing the price of 3,400 prescription drugs in the first half of 2019 at an average rate of five times that of inflation.
In 2019, ECU endorsed Betsy Dirksen Londrigan in IL-13 because of her commitment to reforming Washington, and named Rep. Rodney Davis to ECU’s Big Money 20, the group’s list of most corrupt politicians. For more on Davis and additional background on the Big Money 20, click here.
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