Big Pharma gives big to campaigns of several Illinois members of Congress
Members of Congress from Illinois who sit on legislative committees key to regulating the pharmaceutical industry have accepted more than $300,000 in campaign contributions from drug companies and their affiliates in the current election cycle, public records show.
Some of that campaign money came from firms blamed for fueling the opioid crisis that has led to countless addictions and nearly 500,000 U.S. deaths between 1999 and 2019.
A Chicago Sun-Times review of campaign contributions from dozens of pharmaceutical companies and trade groups and their political action committees in 2023 and so far in 2024 found:
- U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat representing a north and northwest suburban district home to several pharmaceutical and health care companies, accepted roughly $120,000. He’s a member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, which handles some of the legislation affecting the drug industry and consumers.
- U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, a Democrat representing parts of the South Side and south suburbs, accepted just over $100,000. She is a member of the Health Subcommittee of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which also deals with pharmaceutical industry legislation.
- U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a downstate Republican, accepted $95,500 from the industry. He’s also a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which is controlled by the Republican Party.
By comparison, the other 16 members of the U.S. House and Senate from Illinois collectively took in just over $100,000 from the same firms and groups during the same period, according to Federal Election Commission records. U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, a downstate Republican, had the largest share of that amount, with more than $25,000 in campaign contributions.
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, a West Side Democrat who also sits on the Ways and Means Committee, accepted $4,000. A Davis aide says “most of them give just because he’s on” the panel, but “it’s selective for us” as to what’s accepted.
Several members received no money, including U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a north suburban Democrat who has long fought the industry over what she says are exorbitant drug prices that limit access to medicine for many Americans, putting their health at risk.
“There’s no limit to their greed,” she says of the industry.
“I don’t take a penny,” said Schakowsky, who also sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and has pending bills that, among other things, would allow “affordable and safe drugs” to be imported from selected countries.
Alex Lawson, executive director of the Social Security Works nonprofit that advocates for lower prescription pricing, said the industry’s strategy for maximizing profits and limiting regulation “rests on corrupting U.S. politicians” — an accusation the industry and recipients of its money dispute.
Schneider’s spokeswoman pointed to the congressman’s support for the Democrat-backed Inflation Reduction Act that lowers some drug costs for Medicare patients, saying Schneider “has always put his constituents and the American people first.”
“He has cost the industry billions all while lowering the cost of prescription drugs and saving billions for taxpayers. He has and will continue to hold bad actors accountable for the opioid crisis.”
Kelly said in a written statement: “My voting record and legislative efforts are proof that my first and most important priority has always been the health of my constituents."
LaHood’s office wouldn’t comment.
All U.S. House members in Illinois are running in the Nov. 5 general election, and LaHood and U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, another Downstate Republican, are the only incumbents without an opponent.
Johnson & Johnson contributed $7,000 to Schneider’s campaign, $6,500 to Kelly and $5,000 to LaHood, records show.
In 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James declared that opioids “wreaked havoc on countless communities” and that Johnson & Johnson “helped fuel this fire.”
The company was among several pharmaceutical companies that agreed in 2022 to pay $26 billion to settle lawsuits accusing them of making money off highly addictive painkillers while ignoring the health and well-being of users.
A Johnson & Johnson spokesperson said the company is “committed to working in the best interests of employees, patients, healthcare professionals, and the communities where we live and work. As part of this work, we engage with important stakeholders, including government officials and policymakers, to support pro-innovation healthcare initiatives and humanitarian efforts around the world.”
AbbVie, a pharmaceutical firm based in North Chicago in Schneider’s legislative district, agreed in 2022 to pay more than $2 billion to settle lawsuits over how its Allergan unit, which it bought in 2020, marketed opioids.
AbbVie gave $10,000 each to Schneider and LaHood and $7,500 to Kelly. AbbVie declined to comment.