Medical Device Industry Spent More Than $28M On Lobbying Federal Government In 2007, Analysis Finds

Main Category: Medical Devices
Article Date: 24 Mar 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Medical device companies in 2007 spent more than $28 million on lobbying the federal government, compared with $26.5 million in 2006, according to a preliminary analysis of U.S. Senate records conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. In 2007, medical device companies lobbied Congress on an FDA reform bill, Medicare legislation, a bill that would require companies to disclose payments to physician consultants and legislation that would encourage health insurers to cover remote monitoring devices.

According to CRP, medical device companies have increased expenditures on lobbying annually since 2001, when they spent $12.3 million. Stephen Ubl, president of the medical device industry trade group AdvaMed, said that in recent years, more companies have established or expanded lobbying offices in Washington, D.C. He added, "The world in which we're operating is more complicated, and there are more (federal) issues we're working on. So, you need the expertise."

Massie Ritsch, a spokesperson for CRP, said that the health care industry as a whole in 2007 spent more on lobbying than any other sector, in large part because of expenditures by pharmaceutical companies. He said, "The government hands out a lot of money, and sometimes to get it ... there's a perceived need that you have to hire a lobbyist" (Snowbeck, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 3/20).

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