The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the D.C.-based lobbying outfit for the pharmaceutical industry, has raised more than $72 million to get its message out about two ballot initiatives in California. And that pot of money is raising the ire of the group’s opponents. “Our perspective is, it’s an outrageous amount of money. It’s out of bounds with normal [ballot-initiative] spending,” said Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center in D.C, a liberal clearinghouse for ballot measures across the country. “The drug companies are making such big profits, they think they can buy this.” The fund’s major donors include GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, among others. According to Wilfore’s group, the coffers of the PhRMA California Initiative Fund are larger than any other single industry group that has worked on ballot initiatives in the past, although some industries have come close. Automakers ponied up $65 million in 1988 when the state was considering five auto insurance reform measures, and tribal gaming interests raised more than $63 million in 1998 over a casino amendment. The drug companies are fighting against Proposition 79, which would help state negotiators secure cheaper prescription drug prices for uninsured residents by removing from the Medi-Cal preferred drug list the drugs from companies that wouldn’t participate in the discount program. At the same time, PhRMA and its allies are pushing for Proposition 78, a measure similar to one in Ohio that would establish a discount drug program in the state. For more of this story... (Subscription Required)