Pharma Firms' "Soft Money" Donations To GOP

The US nonprofit group Common Cause has reported that in the first sixmonths after the Presidential election in November 1996, pharmaceutical and medical supplies manufacturers donated $779,500 to the Republican Party in "soft money;" ie money given to a national political party which the party can then spend any way it wants. Corporations and unions can only give a set amount to individual candiates, but by giving to the party, election limits can essentially be circumvented.

This figure compares to only $133,735 donated in this manner in the same period after the 1992 election, according to the CC report.

The general health industry donated $522,000 in soft money to the Republicans during January-June 1996, compared with only $46,900 in the same 1993 period. Soft-money donations from pharmaceutical and medical suppliers to the Democrats hit $404,800 in the first six months of 1997, compared with $225,500 in the same 1993 period, while general health industry soft money to Democrats fell to $137,000 from $173,000 in the comparable 1993 period.