How Big Pharma’s web of interests groups pushes its agenda across the country
The pharmaceutical industry, which is well known for its well-resourced lobbying campaigns, has a lesser-known tactic for influencing policy: bankrolling ostensibly independent nonprofit organizations to push industry talking points in Washington and across the nation.
One of the strongest examples of this dynamic is found in the National Community Pharmacists Association. The NCPA receives hundreds of thousands of dollars per year from trade associations and corporations within the drug industry. Among its largest supporters are the pharmaceutical giant AmeriSourceBergen and PhRMA, the largest interest group backing the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, each paying the NCPA at least $200,000 per year. The group boasts over a dozen other drug industry corporate sponsors, paying out between $5,000 and $200,000 per year to support the NCPA’s mission.
