https://sputnikglobe.com/20250202/heres-how-much-senates-loudest-rfk-jr-critics-have-been-paid-by-big-pharma-1121527321.html
Here's How Much Senate’s Loudest RFK Jr Critics Have Been Paid by Big Pharma
Here's How Much Senate’s Loudest RFK Jr Critics Have Been Paid by Big Pharma
Sputnik International
The fiery viral exchange between RFK Jr and Senator Bernie Sanders on Big Pharma money in politics has cast a new light on the Trump HHS pick’s uphill confirmation battle.
2025-02-02T15:05+0000
2025-02-02T15:05+0000
2025-02-02T15:05+0000
analysis
bernie sanders
us
big pharma
senate
pfizer
robert f. kennedy jr
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Among senators grilling Kennedy hardest in this week's grueling confirmation hearings, here’s who’s gotten the most pharma money via PAC contributions and employee donations between 1990-2024, per calculations by OpenSecrets:Bipartisan ConsensusAnd it’s not just Democrats. OpenSecrets records, which have 307 names on file, show former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell got $2 mln, Mitt Romney $3.3 mln, Richard Burr $1.6 mln, the late John McCain $1.4 mln, Bill Cassidy $1.2 mln, and Roy Blunt, John Cornyn and Tim Scott $1.1 mln each over the past three-and-a-half decades.A 2021 STAT study found that over two-thirds of Congress got a pharma check in 2020, with Pfizer alone contributing to 228 federal campaigns and over 1,000 state races. By last August alone, Big Pharma’s 2024 election PAC war chests hit $37 mln, per BioSpace.Besides lobbying, lawmakers have taken advantage of their jobs to get rich off pharma-related insider trading, with a 2021 Business Insider report finding that 75 made timely investments into the federal Covid response.Then there’s the combined payouts of healthcare industry, which includes pharma but also insurance, medical device suppliers, etc.Media Onboard TooMajor outlets aren’t running anti-RFK hit pieces for free. Dr. Leana Wen, author of a recent WaPo piece trashing Kennedy, received over $1.1 mln from Big Pharma over her career.In 2021, MintPress News calculated that active Big Pharma cheerleader Bill Gates has given nearly $320 mln to media over the years to ensure favorable coverage of himself and the initiatives he's pushing, including as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry.
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are senators paid off by big pharma, does big pharma control congress, will rfk jr be confirmed, has rfk jr been confirmed
are senators paid off by big pharma, does big pharma control congress, will rfk jr be confirmed, has rfk jr been confirmed
Here's How Much Senate’s Loudest RFK Jr Critics Have Been Paid by Big Pharma
The fiery viral exchange between RFK Jr and Senator Bernie Sanders on Big Pharma money in politics has cast a new light on the Trump HHS pick’s uphill confirmation battle.
Among senators grilling Kennedy hardest in this week's
grueling confirmation hearings, here’s who’s gotten the most pharma money via PAC contributions and employee donations between 1990-2024,
per calculations by OpenSecrets:
Elizabeth Warren: $1.2 mln. Ironic that she’s
recently accused Kennedy of “profiting from anti-vaccine conspiracies.”
Catherine Cortez Masto: $537,000
And it’s not just Democrats. OpenSecrets records, which have 307 names on file, show former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell got $2 mln, Mitt Romney $3.3 mln, Richard Burr $1.6 mln, the late John McCain $1.4 mln, Bill Cassidy $1.2 mln, and Roy Blunt, John Cornyn and Tim Scott $1.1 mln each over the past three-and-a-half decades.
A 2021 STAT study
found that over two-thirds of Congress got a pharma check in 2020, with Pfizer alone contributing to 228 federal campaigns and over 1,000 state races. By last August alone, Big Pharma’s 2024 election PAC war chests hit
$37 mln, per BioSpace.
Besides lobbying, lawmakers have
taken advantage of their jobs to get rich off pharma-related insider trading, with a 2021 Business Insider report finding that 75 made timely investments into the federal Covid response.
Then there’s the combined payouts of healthcare industry, which includes pharma but also insurance, medical device suppliers, etc.
By these accounts, Sanders alone got $23+ mln since 1990, Warnock $14.7 mln, Warren $10.4 mln, Wyden $6.7 mln, Tim Kaine $3.3 mln, Ed Markey $2.3 mln, Patty Murray $5.8 mln, Tammy Baldwin $4.9 mln, etc.
Major outlets aren’t running anti-RFK hit pieces for free. Dr. Leana Wen, author of a recent WaPo piece trashing Kennedy, received over $1.1 mln from Big Pharma over her career.
In 2021, MintPress News calculated that active Big Pharma cheerleader Bill Gates has given
nearly $320 mln to media over the years to ensure favorable coverage of himself and the initiatives he's pushing, including as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry.
