USA's PhRMA chief Tauzin quits post, amid internal disputes over pact with White House

Billy Tauzin, one of Washington DC's highest-paid lobbyists, and a former Louisiana Congressman, is resigning as president of the US drug industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) ' a post he has held since 2005, effective June 30 -amid internal disputes over its pact with the White House to trade political support for favorable terms in the proposed health care reform, according to The Washington Monthly as well as other US media reports.

As president of PhRMA, Mr Tauzin struck an $80 billion deal with the White House last summer to help pay for the proposed care health reform (The Pharma Letters passim). The controversial deal has been a sore point with many congressional Democrats who wanted the pharmaceutical industry to shoulder more of the cost of reform.

During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama said the government should negotiate Medicare drug prices directly with drug companies and advocated importation of low-priced drugs from Canada. However, after negotiations with the PhRMA, his administration declined to pursue either policy. During the health care debate last year, a measure to allow drug imports from Canada and elsewhere did not get White House backing and failed to win sufficient Senate support, noted the Wall Street Journal.