Maybe if the aides didn't meet with them they wouldn't be so powerful. On which side does the problem lie?
'The industry has a bipartisan stable of lobbyists who worked on health legislation for influential members of Congress.
A longtime aide to former Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, works for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. An aide to former Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, who was the chairman of the Senate health committee, is now a top lobbyist for Merck.
The door swings in both directions. For six years, Gary Andres was the Republican staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for legislation that affects prescription drugs and the F.D.A. In February 2017, he became a senior executive vice president of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a trade group that lobbies for biotech companies.
Then he returned last month to Capitol Hill to become the Republican staff director of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare, including its payments for prescription drugs.
Ryan Long, former chief health counsel at the Energy and Commerce Committee, joined BGR Government Affairs in February 2013. In lobbying disclosure reports filed by BGR, he was listed as a lobbyist for Amgen, Celgene, Gilead, Lilly and Merck, among other clients. He returned to the committee this March as the deputy staff director.
Retired lawmakers also show up as lobbyists.
Among those who are listed as having lobbied for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in recent years are former Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona and former Representative Bill Paxon of New York, both Republicans. Former Representative Ed Whitfield, Republican of Kentucky, is listed as lobbying for AstraZeneca, Genentech and Johnson & Johnson, among other companies.'