Just Desserts for Pfizer?

Posted by John LaPlante in Health Care on Feb 8th, 2010 | no responses

There’s a commonly held belief that big businesses hate government intervention. Though there may be an exception here or there, nothing could be further from the truth. The latest installment comes from Kimberly Strassel, who chronicled the maneuverings of Pfizer and other health care companies. She writes about Jeffrey Kindler, who took over as the company’s top executive in 2006.

Fortune 500 execs could stand up for a free market that benefits consumers and shareholders, or hitch their cart to the new Democratic majority. Pfizer’s Mr. Kindler is a case study in the hitch-and-hope mentality—a CEO who became the motivating force behind Big Pharma’s $80 billion “deal” on reform, and industry support of ObamaCare. With that health agenda burning, the choice isn’t looking so grand.

Kindler encouraged the health reform efforts of Washington’s Democrats, and pushed the industry’s trade group to spend millions of dollars in favor of the plans. In effect, he cut a deal, hoping to secure favorable treatment on importation of drugs and other matters. But the deal may not have any good effects.

“Mr. Kindler and Co. are left with the ashes. Having got this far (with Big Pharma’s help), Democrats are more desperate than ever to pass “something.” It won’t include any upside for drug companies. There is talk instead of “popular” stand-alone legislation, including reimportation, Medicare price controls, and slashing the industry’s 12-year exclusivity on biologics.”

The sad thing about this maneuver is that some of the things Kindler wanted from a deal — that “Congress would “fight against drug reimportation and forgo price controls”–make sense.

Strassel concludes that business leaders should “try standing up for the free markets and limited government that have always been the foundation of U.S. business. It might work out better.”