Walden and the Opioid Drug Industry

Opioid drug manufacturers gave Walden $39,000 so far this cycle.

Drug company PACs lavish money on Greg Walden. It makes good business sense. He is chair of the committee that oversees them.

All this information is public. Any citizen can look it up and share it. I consider it newsworthy.

A Republican restauranteur asked me a reasonable question: "Have the opioid drug makers we are hearing about donated to Greg Walden's campaign?"  The query came from a good guy. Civic minded. Generous. Smart. He has a photo of himself and Greg Walden in a prominent place in his restaurant. I didn't know the answer.  Now I do. The answer is yes. 

I invite readers to check my work. www.opensecrets.org  Click

First, some background. Greg Walden is the number one recipient of drug PAC money of all of the 435 Members of Congress.  He even edges out Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House. Click  

He holds a similar number one ranking in other industry PACs, for example TV broadcasters: Click.  Also, number one ranking in PAC gifts for the Health Services industry, the Medical Devices industry, the Electric Utility industry, and several others.

Today let's focus on health care and opioids.

Start of a long, long list

Greg Walden gets money from nearly all drug companies, big and small. Here are the drug manufacturer contributors, listed in alphabetical order, from Abbott Labs all the way to Zimmer: Click

There is a similar alphabetical list for companies categorized as "Health Services"and another for "Nursing Homes" and another for practitioner associations.

Opioid drug manufacturers donated at least $39,000 to Greg Walden.

Click

Out of the long lists, which ones are deeply implicated in the opioid manufacture and distribution system?  These: Purdue, Johnson and Johnson, Endo, Cephalon, Insys, Malinckrodt, McKesson, Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen, Mylan, Allergen.  

These eleven companies are the ones identified as leading manufacturers and distributors in lawsuits by Texas, Ohio, Mississippi, and a growing list of other states, cities, and counties that are attempting to recoup some of the costs of a pervasive system of over-prescribing and mass distribution of opioids. They are defendants, identified either because they made the opioids, encouraged their widespread use, or turned a blind eye to the crisis. There is lots of news on this:  Click: New England Journal of Medicine    Click: Fortune

Eight of the eleven gave to Walden, and he kept the money:

Click: www.opensecrets.org

Johnson and Johnson: $ 10,000
Teva: $3,500

Endo: $2,000
Allergan: $5,000
Amerisource Bergen: $6,000
Malinckrodt: $7,500
Mylan: $2,500
McKesson: $2,500

Four takeaways.  

1. Greg Walden is smiling in the photo of him used to illustrate his extraordinary fundraising prowess. In politics these gifts are proof that a candidate enjoys the support of the company or industry, and they are tools to assure his re-election. Walden is not ashamed of the money he gets from lobbyists. They are a trophy, and he keeps raising money.

2. Yes, Walden gets money from opioid manufacturers and distributors. They are his benefactors. While states and cities treat these companies as dangerous and go to court to stop them, Greg Walden maintains friendly relationships with them. 

3. He gets money from nearly everyone whose industries his committee oversees. The money Walden gets from the opioid industry is a drop in the bucket for him. His support from the opioid industry isn't unique or surprising. He is friendly with all the drug companies; Some of them just happen to make and distribute opioids. 

4. Swamp. Walden gets money from the people he is supposed to regulate. The greater principle here is not that Walden is supported by an opioid industry that created a crisis that has killed 4,500 Oregonians in the past decade--and 350,000 people nationwide. It is that Greg Walden chairs a committee that oversees the drug industry, and they shovel money at him, and he takes it.