White House-PhRMA Memo Surfaces Again

Alicia Mundy covers the pharmaceutical industry in Washington.

Since mid-July, the White House and the drug industry’s Washington lobby, PhRMA, have denied any specific agreement that would give the industry big benefits in exchange for its support for President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul effort.

But there is an email outlining a four-part deal that industry lobbyists were sending to each other on July 7. The White House and PhRMA have called the memo inaccurate, though one side or the other has acknowledged three of the four big points.

Lobbyists and reporters aren’t the only ones citing the memo. Barclays Capital advisers in New York included the memo in a note to its clients July 8, as part of its effort to keep clients informed about the likely impact of health care overhaul on their investments.

Barclay’s note said, “According to our Washington consultants, the components of this agreement, which is similar to the ‘Senate version,’ may be as follows,” and listed the terms but without naming the author.

Tony Butler, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Barclays Capital, reaffirmed his group’s belief in the memo’s importance. “We got this (memo) from some of our health consultants who have relayed accurate information before on the course of health care reform” and he backed it up with information from drug company executives and Senate Finance folks.

“It all holds together,” Butler said, detailing why industry wants to avoid the issues listed on the memo, one of which is an “expensive Pandora’s box.” He said he has been told Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, is on board with the memo contents.

Butler said the deal outlined in the memo provides more evidence that “the probability of health care reform significantly hurting the drug industry is diminishing each day.”

Ken Johnson, vice president of PhRMA said in a statement, “Frankly, I don’t ever recall seeing any analysts at any of our closed-door board meetings…. In fact, parts of the so-called memo are simply incorrect,” and that, he said, should speak to its authenticity. He did not specify which parts. The White House first referred Washington Wire to PhRMA, and had no immediate comment.

In Barclay’s cover letter accompanying the memo, Butler pointed out a typo–-a reference to Rep. Henry Waxman of California as “Senator Waxman.” We doubt Waxman would object.