Copyright 1999 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
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July 1, 1999, Thursday, Saturday, Final
Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A27; THE FEDERAL PAGE
LENGTH: 851 words
HEADLINE:
SPECIAL INTERESTS; Rash of Protest
BYLINE: Bill
McAllister
BODY:
This was the day that
former surgeon general C. Everett Koop was scheduled to go before Congress and
support Schering-Plough Corp.'s push for an extension of its
patent on Claritin, the company's best-selling allergy
drug. Then, for reasons that aren't clear, his appearance
before the House Judiciary subcommittee on courts and intellectual property was
canceled.
His absence isn't likely to quell a burgeoning controversy
over the good doctor and the support he has given Claritin and another
Schering-Plough drug used to treat hepatitis C. Yesterday,
Public Citizen and a spokesman for the National Pharmaceutical Alliance, a group
of makers of generic drugs, charged that a $ 1 million grant
Schering-Plough gave to the Koop Foundation, Koop's nonprofit group, makes him
an unregistered lobbyist for the company.
"A $ 1 million grant followed
by this kind of lobbying activity is a serious conflict of interest," said
Sidney W. Wolf, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group. "It looks
like America has a new company doctor."
Representatives of
Schering-Plough and Koop replied that there was no quid pro quo between the
grant, first disclosed by the Newark Star-Ledger, and Koop's support of the
drugs.
"We did not pay him to do that," said Robert
Consalvo, a spokesman for the drug firm. He said that Koop has
long taken positions coincidentally favorable to the drug
company and that the two simply were backing "policies of mutual interest."
"This whole thing has been blown out of proportion," said Mary Beth
Zupa, a spokeswoman for Koop. "Dr. Koop does not work on behalf of any
pharmaceutical company."
Public Citizen charged that Koop is well wired
to the Claritin struggle. On April 29, a day after legislation was introduced in
the House extending the company's Claritin patent, Koop wrote a
letter of support to House members.
Whatever the outcome, the stakes in
the fight are huge. Public Citizen said consumers would have to pay $ 1.6
billion to $ 3.2 billion more for Claritin over the next three years if the
company's patent is extended. The legislation would block
generic drug companies from making copies of the
drug and presumably selling it at reduced prices.
. . .
Three . . . Two . . . One . . . Lobbyists!
Arianespace Inc., the
European space consortium that has launched 45 percent of U.S.-owned satellites,
has turned to Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand for help in keeping
its launches on schedule.
Fallout from the apparent theft of missile
technology by the Chinese has prompted the State Department to threaten to
impose special regulations on the export of U.S. satellites. "The bottom line is
that it has caused paralysis in the industry," says Verner, Liipfert lobbyist
Steven R. Phillips, a former aide to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.).
Verner has assembled a high-level team to press
Arianespace's case with Congress and the State Department. In addition to
Phillips, Harry C. McPherson, a former special counsel to President Lyndon B.
Johnson; Lawrence E. Levinson, a former Johnson White House lawyer; and Mary
Penelope "Nell" Payne, a former Bush White House aide, are working the issue.
They are hoping State will agree that, under the National Defense
Authorization Act for fiscal 1999, it does not have to be so strict with
everyone. The act transferred satellite export authority from the Commerce
Department to State but exempted satellite exports to NATO and major U.S. allies
from the strict controls. To the consternation of the Europeans, State is now
saying those controls may be necessary "in furtherance of the security and
foreign policy of the United States."
Selling Encyclopedias
Putting together something as big as the Encyclopaedia Britannica is a
complex undertaking. So much so that the encyclopedia publisher is having
trouble assembling a board of directors from around the world who would be
willing to come to Chicago and spend a couple of days each year helping to
manage its affairs.
The problem, according to Tom Panelas, an
Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. spokesman, is that a lot of the people the
encyclopedia would like to have serve on its board are so rich and well-traveled
that staying in the United States even a few more days each year poses a serious
tax problem.
So Britannica has turned to Sutherland Asbill &
Brennan, a Washington and Atlanta law firm, for help. Sutherland partner Daniel
M. Berman, a former specialist in international taxes at the Treasury
Department, has registered to lobby for tax relief. What Berman would like to
get is a relaxation of Section 7701(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, which sets
the standard for how many days a foreigner can spend in the United States before
all his or her income is considered taxable by Uncle Sam.
It may take an
act of Congress, but then Britannica obviously believes that a better
encyclopedia would benefit everyone. Britannica, by the way, is a subsidiary of
a Luxembourg-based holding company.
Bill McAllister's e-mail address is
mcallisteb@washpost.com.
LOAD-DATE: July 01, 1999
