The press was quick to publicize the wrist-slapping given to the insurance industry by the government this week for not properly subsidizing contraception coverage, but no one reported on the pivotal role played in the dustup by Big Pharma giant, Bayer, the manufacturer of a birth control pill with life-threatening side effects that has resulted in more than 10,000 lawsuits against the company from injured women.
Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner's senior political columnist is reporting on the story which began when a letter was sent to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell, by thirty-eight Democratic senators. The letter referred to two reports by the National Women’s Law Center which found that insurers were only covering part of the cost of some methods of birth control, but not all.
Even though insurers responded to the allegation, saying they were making coverage decisions based on effectiveness – such as refusing to cover a more expensive brand of hormonal contraception if a cheaper method was available – Burwell issued a statement on Monday accusing insurers of violating Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
Carney reports that “Every major news account of Murray's letter and the subsequent HHS statement cited the Law Center's reports. Not one of these outlets—not The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Hill, MSNBC, National Journal, or any other mainstream outlets to cover the story — mentioned the role in the study of pharmaceutical giant Bayer, maker of pricey name-brand birth control pills and intrauterine devices. The company has an obvious interest in forcing insurers to pay for their more expensive contraceptives, not just the cheaper ones.”
Bayer is the manufacturer of birth control pills known as Yaz and Yasmin which are associated with life-threatening side effects. Thousands of injuries and about 100 deaths are linked to these drugs. A study published in the British Medical Journal in October 2011 found that users experienced twice as much blood clot risk as women who use older brands of contraception.
Pending claims against Bayer include negligence for not doing enough research on the medications and failing to issue recalls after reports indicated life-threatening side effects. Other claims include product liability, breach of express and implied warranties, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, medical monitoring, and fraud and deceit.
As of March 2014, the company settled 8,250 cases totaling $1.7 billion, with more cases currently pending in court. Bayer also manufacturers the IUD named Mirena and a sterilization procedure known as Essure.
Bayer’s association with the Women’s Law Center is in funding a hotline for women known as CoverHer. This hotline was created for use by women whose insurers were charging them out-of-pocket costs for their contraceptives in violation of Obamacare. The Women’s Law Center used data collected from this hotline, along with insurance company plan documents and correspondence with insurers, to make their accusation against insurers.
“. . . (I)t's noteworthy that Beltway Democrats' latest women's healthcare fight was fueled in part by Bayer money,” Carney writes. “It's interesting in part because it clashes with the populist rhetoric coming from the Left — especially while pushing Obamacare — for years.”
For example, in a 2009 Rose Garden speech, Obama attacked “drug companies” as “special interests” seeking enrichment from the status quo at the detriment of families.
Talk is cheap, however, and it has no bearing on the facts which point to a longstanding alliance between drugmakers and those who are championing the so-called “war on women”.
“Barr Pharmaceuticals, which last decade sold the morning-after contraceptive Plan B, had a special business partnership with Planned Parenthood that allowed Planned Parenthood to reap 300 percent or 400 percent profit margins on selling the drug at clinics. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood funded Democratic politicians' campaigns, and Democratic politicians in turn pushed legislation to subsidize Plan B,” Craney reports.
In addition, a former lobbyist for Barr Laboratories, William Schultz, is now serving as Burwell's General Counsel at HHS.
It’s also important to note that then-candidate Barack Obama raked in $1.2 million from the industry during his 2008 presidential campaign, the most any candidate in history has raised from the pharmaceutical industry.
“The alliance is natural between the companies selling birth control and the politicians running on offering ‘free birth control’,” Carney concludes. “But it might cast a different light on the Democrats' War on Women if it were presented as what it is: subsidies for Big Pharma.”
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