Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16618
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
 
Publication type: news
Dizikes C
Franken bill would end company tax breaks for pharmaceutical marketing
MinnPost.com 2009 Oct 8
http://www.minnpost.com/cynthiadizikes/2009/10/08/12344/franken_bill_would_end_company_tax_breaks_for_pharmaceutical_mar
Full text:
Sen. Al Franken, who sits on the Senate Health Committee, introduced a bill today that would end tax breaks to companies for direct-to-consumer health-products advertising and marketing to health care providers.
Pharmaceutical companies currently receive billions of dollars in tax breaks for product promotion.
“This legislation will remove these benefits so pharmaceutical companies can focus on developing new drugs, not excessive marketing schemes,” Franken said in a statement.
He added that “there’s no reason for drug companies to be getting a boost from taxpayers while Minnesota families are struggling to pay the costs of health care.”
Franken estimates that the federal government could save $3.5 billion a year by nixing these tax breaks.