The Huffington Post reported that the House version of the children’s heath insurance bill is being used to profit big drug companies while putting patients at unnecessary health risks. The Bush administration has expressed its opposition to expanding the program but it has not stopped earmarks from funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to special interests, including the “Quality Incentive Payments in the End Stage Renal Disease Program.” Over the next three years $300 million will be earmarked to clinics treating patients with kidney disease and kidney failure so long as the clinics can raise at least 92% of patients’ hemoglobin levels to 11g/dL or higher. The incentive for more ESA use comes at a greater cost to patients: for patients with hemoglobin levels of 12g/dL or higher, ESA use can result in increased heart attacks and premature death.

The bill was passed even after the FDA issued its black-box warning on Amgen’s Epogen and Aranesp as well as Johnson & Johnson’s Procrit. Further scrutiny of the ESAs can be seen in the numerous studies administered to investigate the health risks to patients as well as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ revisions of their insurance coverage for such patients. In spite of these warnings, the bill was passed essentially because of Amgen’s lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Amgen has spent over $10.2 million in recent years for its lobbyists to spread the word on Capitol Hill that studies have shown an increased energy and overall feeling of patients with higher hemoglobin levels. Armed with the results of these studies, organizations such as the Renal Physicians Association, the National Kidney Foundation, and the American Association of Kidney Patients have helped to spread the word. What’s most telling is not the conclusions of the studies (which have recently been rebutted), but rather the interests of these organizations. The Renal Physicians Association has strong financial ties to Amgen and the National Kidney Foundation, along with the American Association of Kidney Patients, has received substantial funding from the drug manufacturer. Amgen has also enlisted the aid DaVita and Fresenuis in their lobbying scheme, both of which are major dialysis clinic chains that receive kickbacks “for every dose of Epogen they administer.”

While Amgen is trying to win over Capitol Hill the health safety of the patients receiving its drugs are being lost in the battle. Recent studies have shown that, in fact, higher hemoglobin levels have not lead to increased energy and overall feeling. The mortality rate is increasing and there is really no overall benefit. Moreover, EPO use is doubling (in violation of FDA warnings) with the cost to taxpayers increasing.

The Huffington Post: “The Most Costly Earmark in S-CHIP”

To read more about Amgen’s lobbying efforts in Washington, including the political contributions that it has made in the name of shaping healthcare policy, click on the link below.

Los Angeles Times: “Amgen Boosts Capital Lobbying”