In case you missed it, The Washington Examiner recently exposed how a research nonprofit, relied on by many in the mainstream press to advance narratives about the prescription drug marketplace, was actually bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry. Robert Schmad from the Examiner writes:
“By taking in revenue through a for-profit arm and generating research through a nonprofit group, 46brooklyn is able to avoid filing a traditional, more detailed nonprofit disclosure form. Indeed, 3 Axis Advisors takes in considerable income, with much of it coming from organizations linked to the pharmaceutical industry. In 2023, the consulting firm partnered with America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund on a research project that cost well over $300,000, according to tax disclosures. America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund, during its infancy in 2008, received over $1 million in funding from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, better known as PhRMA, the primary trade association representing the interests of American drug manufacturers.”
To no surprise, America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund has strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry:
“America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund’s parent organization, a left-leaning 501(c)(4) known simply as America’s Agenda, lists PhRMA as one of its partners. Additionally, multiple members of the organization’s board of directors have ties to the pharmaceutical industry, according to the organization’s website. Among them are former Novo Nordisk public affairs executive Brian Kelly, PhRMA Senior Vice President Scott LaGanga, HMC HealthWorks CEO Janis DiMonaco, pharmacy executive Clark Marcus, and healthcare executive Cliff Robertson.”
“PhRMA makes clear on its website that one of its primary objectives is to blame pharmacy benefit managers, entities that serve as the middlemen between insurance companies and pharmacies, for high drug costs. America’s Agenda, 3 Axis Advisors, and 46brooklyn work in tandem to advance the same goal.”
Big Pharma’s scheme doesn’t stop there. America’s Agenda provides the majority of funding to a group that is dedicated to taking down pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), free market forces in the prescription drug supply chain that act as the only real check on drug companies and their outsized pricing power:
“America’s Agenda provides almost all the funding for the PBM Accountability Project, a nonprofit group that exists to shift public opinion and policy against pharmacy benefit managers while also sharing leadership with America’s Agenda. While America’s Agenda funds and staffs the PBM Accountability Project, the nonprofit group paid 3 Axis Advisors $410,000 between 2022 and 2023 for “research and analysis,” tax filings show.”
46brooklyn’s board consists of several members with ties to big drug companies:
“Multiple 46brooklyn board members have financial interests in the pharmaceutical industry, according to their biographies on the group’s website. Scott McGohan, one director, is the CEO of one of the largest independent health insurance brokers in Ohio. Jeff Bartone, another director, is the president of a regional pharmacy chain with four locations and more than 50 employees. Michael Sharp, a third director, heads a consulting firm that works with pharmaceutical manufacturers.”
Any so-called research from 46brooklyn should come with a warning and disclosure sign to the American people of the deep biased ties to the pharmaceutical industry, especially when findings are used to influence and push regulatory policies. Taking pharma’s bait would lead to increased health care costs, a massive money grab for Big Pharma and less freedoms for America’s employers in our private market.
The exposé from the Washington Examiner makes clear one thing for lawmakers: The assault on free market forces, pharmacy benefit managers, is nothing more than a scheme from Big Pharma to boost their own profits. Lawmakers should reject the Big Pharma agenda.
Read the full Washington Examiner article HERE.
See how Big Pharma’s bailout is a major trap for President Trump HERE.
###
