Tucker Carlson Says Big Pharma’s Lobbying Of ‘Politicians’ Has ‘Paid Off’
Harold Hutchison on January 26, 2023
Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Thursday that Big Pharma’s lobbying of “politicians” has “paid off,” citing drugs being advertised directly to consumers and government vaccine mandates.
“How powerful, exactly, are the big pharmaceutical companies in this country? Well, that’s a big question and there are a lot of ways to measure it, but here are a few ways you can measure it,” Carlson, an honorary member of the Daily Caller News Foundation’s board, said. “In this country, Big Pharma can advertise drugs directly to consumers. That’s a little strange if you think about it, since consumers don’t prescribe drugs, doctors do. So, why are the drugs being advertised directly to consumers?”
The United States was one of only two countries in the world that allowed prescription drugs to be marketed directly to consumers, Carlson noted.
“It may not surprise you that in this country, drug companies spend more on lobbying Congress than any other industry. A lot more than any other industry. They don’t do it by accident,” Carlson said. “They do it because it pays off in a deal like this. A pretty remarkable deal that drug companies have worked out with politicians.”
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“The government uses your tax dollars to buy billions’ worth of their products and then in some cases forces you to use those products. Sometimes those products work and sometimes they don’t work. And some cases the products can injure you but no matter what happens, there is nothing you can do about it, because politicians have given these companies complete immunity. If their products hurt or kill you, you cannot sue them. You are not even really allowed to complain about it. That’s an incredible deal,” Carlson, an honorary member of the Daily Caller News Foundation’s board, said.
Carlson cited Pfizer numerous times during the segment.
Pfizer spent $11.58 million in lobbying in 2022 with 84 lobbyists and employed as many as 111 lobbyists in a given year going back to 1999, according to OpenSecrets.org.
The entire pharmaceutical industry spent just under $284 million in 2022, according to OpenSecrets.org
“Imagine if your company had struck a deal like that with the Congress,” Carlson said. “You would probably be richer than you are. So, that’s power.”
Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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