For Immediate Release: September 22, 2016 Contact: Roger Salazar (916) 284-­‐1255 [email protected] Big Pharma Spends Big to Get Veterans to Oppose Proposition 61 Scaring and Misleading Vets Groups Has Been a Standard Tactic of the Drug Lobby SACRAMENTO, CA – Big Pharma's campaign against Proposition 61, the California Drug Price Relief Act, has been manipulating veterans organizations into opposing the measure, including paying top dollar to lobbyists who represent veterans in order to help secure their opposition, as well as doling out cash directly to veterans organizations themselves. “It is really beyond shameless the lies and scare tactics the drug companies are using to bamboozle vets organizations into believing somehow Prop. 61 would be detrimental to their interests,” said Garry South, lead strategist for the Yes on 61 campaign. “Every time there is a debate about reining in exorbitant drug prices, Big Pharma attempts to drag in veterans organizations to protest. The level of manipulation and dishonesty of the industry is just breathtaking.” According to Big Pharma’s No on 61 campaign finance reports filed with the California Secretary of State’s office, they began paying the lobbying firm of Pete Conaty & Associates in December of 2015. Conaty, a well-­‐known Sacramento lobbyist, represents the California arms of the American GI Forum, the American Legion, AmVets, County Veterans Service Officers, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Vietnam Veterans of America, among others. Three months and $15,000 later, all of Conaty’s clients miraculously came out publicly in opposition to the California Drug Price Relief Act. The very next month, Big Pharma doubled what it was paying Conaty’s firm, from $5,000 per month to $10,000 per month. As of June 2016, the lobbyist who represents most of California’s major veterans groups had collected more than $35,000 from the drug company-­‐financed campaign. In addition, to back up their investment in Conaty, Big Pharma’s campaign has paid more than $8,000 directly to the veterans groups Conaty represents for so-­‐called “meetings and appearances.” Conaty’s firm is not the only firm supposedly representing veterans “interests” getting a sweet deal from Big Pharma. As Californians for Lower Drug Prices exposed previously, Big Pharma’s campaign also hired Anthony Principi, former Department of Veterans Affairs secretary under President George W. Bush, who is now a federal lobbyist. Principi, not coincidentally is also a former top executive of Pfizer, one of the most egregious drug price-­‐gougers, and is a board member of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals. Ironically, the same individual hired by Pharma to convince vets that Prop. 61 would hurt them is the same person whose tenure as VA secretary was marred by accusations that he stopped healthcare enrollments for eligible veterans. In 2008, Principi was forced to repay the VA $3 million after an audit by the VA's inspector general revealed QTC Management Inc., a company headed by Principi both before and after his service as VA secretary, overbilled the VA $6 million under a long-­‐term contract to conduct physical evaluations on veterans applying for disability benefits. The audit was triggered by a whistleblower's call to a VA hotline. The Principi Group has collected more than $56,000 from Big Pharma’s No on 61 campaign as of June 30, 2016. Proposition 61, on the November 8 ballot, would require the state of California to negotiate with drug companies for drug prices that are no more than is paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). The DVA negotiates for drug prices on behalf of the millions of veterans it serves, and pays on average 20-­‐24 percent less for medications than other government agencies, and up to 40 percent less than Medicare Part D. In response to the ballot measure, opponents of Prop. 61, primarily made up of the drug industry itself, have misleadingly argued that implementation of the measure could result in higher drug prices for the DVA. Drug discounts for DVA are actually guaranteed under federal law. Prop. 61 has been endorsed by VoteVets, consisting of 400,000 mostly Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. http://www.votevets.org/ www.Yeson61.com Paid for by Yes on Prop 61, Californians for Lower Drug Prices, With Major Funding by AIDS Healthcare Foundation and California Nurses Association PAC. FPPC ID#1376791