I realize this is an era for more creative forms of political propaganda. The president can’t even talk to troops during a war without turning the event into an infomercial.
But when the pharmaceutical industry gets involved in commissioning a novel to scare Americans, you know things have gotten out of hand.
In a tale worthy of a zany Washington satire — except for the lamentable fact that it’s true — the rich and powerful pharmaceutical lobby secretly commissioned a thriller novel whose aim was to scare the living daylights out of folks who might want to buy cheap drugs from Canada.
When the project fell through in July, I’m told the drug lobby offered $100,000 to the co-authors and publisher in a vain effort to sweep it under the rug. […]
“This is the most outrageous example of deception and duplicity on the part of a Washington lobby in the history of the country,” said Capitol Hill denizen Jeff Weaver, chief of staff to Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a diehard foe of the pharmaceutical industry.
A multibillion industry, who already gets subsidies from the government, is so worried about reimportation that it would secretly commission pop fiction? Sad. Very sad.
Lloyd Grove explained that a DC divorce lawyer came up with the idea and approach Phoenix Books about the project. The publisher struck a six-figure deal and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which is trying to distance itself from the whole thing, made at least one payment to Phoenix Books.
Think that’s bad? Wait until you hear the plot — and PhRMA’s role in shaping it.
Work began in April, after Viner hired veteran ghostwriter Julie Chrystyn. Her story concerned a Croatian terrorist cell that uses Canadian Web sites to murder millions of unwitting Americans looking for cut-rate pharmaceuticals.
PhRMA has vigorously fought all efforts to legalize the purchase of cheap drugs from Canada. Even though the lobby has found some success, the underground business still takes an estimated $1 billion in annual profits from American drug behemoths.
Chrystyn titled her thriller-in-progress “The Spivak Conspiracy,” an homage to her friend Kenin Spivak, an L.A. telecomm entrepreneur and onetime Hollywood exec.
Spivak said he became Chrystyn’s co-writer after she delivered the first 50 pages, and PhRMA made several editorial suggestions.
“They said they wanted it somewhat dumbed down for women, with a lot more fluff in it, and more about the wife of the head Croatian terrorist, who is a former Miss Mexico,” Spivak told me.
Apparently, women are among the most loyal buyers of Canadian drugs.
“They also wanted to change the motivating factor of the terrorists to greed, because they didn’t want it to be politics,” Spivak said. “They wanted lots of people to die.”
I had no idea the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America was so desperate that it would stoop this low.