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Healthcare & Big Pharma

Americans pay more for healthcare than any other developed nation, yet have worse outcomes on most metrics. The pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable sector in the U.S. economy and the biggest spender on federal lobbying — a combination that directly shapes drug pricing, FDA regulation, and the political impossibility of meaningful reform.

Gen Us covers healthcare and pharma because the gap between what Americans pay and what they receive is a direct product of corporate influence over policy. Drug companies set prices based on what the market will bear, not on research costs or patient need, and then spend billions ensuring that no law changes this dynamic.

We trace pharma lobbying to specific policy outcomes, document the FDA revolving door, analyze how drug company advertising distorts both media coverage and clinical practice, and compare U.S. drug prices to the rest of the world.

The reporting trail

Latest reporting on Healthcare & Big Pharma

New evidence joins the permanent record here, so each investigation remains connected to the larger system.

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Cotton Calls El-Sayed a “True Radical” While Demanding Expedited Military Aid for Israel
Analysis
0% BS
PoliticsAug 23

Cotton Calls El-Sayed a “True Radical” While Demanding Expedited Military Aid for Israel

Breitbart reported that Sen. Tom Cotton called Abdul El-Sayed a “true radical” and described an alleged fusion of socialism or communism and Islamism, while Cotton’s 2024 letter demanded that the United States use “all available resources” to expedite military aid to Israel. The records support a Gen Us inference of selective state power, but they do not show Cotton explicitly linking his attack to El-Sayed’s Medicare for All proposal.

Oz and Vance Freeze $1B in Medicaid to CA and MN
Mainstream
Left65% BS
healthAug 3

Oz and Vance Freeze $1B in Medicaid to CA and MN

The Trump administration has officially frozen over $1 billion in healthcare funding for California and Minnesota. Led by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the 'CRUSH' initiative aims to audit state spending while leaving millions of safety-net patients in the lurch.

FDA Official Approves $45k Drug, Joins Company Board 45 Days Later
Investigation
0% BS
CorporateAug 3

FDA Official Approves $45k Drug, Joins Company Board 45 Days Later

Dr. Helena Vance oversaw the approval of Zencyta, a $45,000-per-dose drug. Six weeks later, she joined the board of the company that makes it. We track the $3.1M lobbying trail that locked in this taxpayer-funded windfall.

Israel Jails 'Doctor of the Poor' as Health NGO Crackdown Intensifies
Mainstream
Left65% BS
warAug 2

Israel Jails 'Doctor of the Poor' as Health NGO Crackdown Intensifies

71-year-old Dr. Mazen Rantisi is being held in Ofer prison without access to his own heart medication. While Israel cites 'terror ties' for his NGO, critics argue the arrest is a calculated move to dismantle the healthcare safety net for thousands of Palestinians.

Inside the Primary Purge: How Grassroots Cash Toppled the Democratic Establishment
Mainstream
Left35% BS
politicsJul 7

Inside the Primary Purge: How Grassroots Cash Toppled the Democratic Establishment

The June 2026 primaries just sent a shockwave through the establishment. 29-year-old attorney Melat Kiros unseated Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado political fixture for three decades, signaling a total breakdown in the party's old-school leadership model. While some pundits blame age, FEC filings tell a different story. It's about the money. Challengers like Kiros, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Claire Valdez are winning by trashing the corporate-funded playbooks that have kept the party's center stable for years. With New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani using his platform to fund these federal insurgents, the movement is gaining teeth, even as the media ignores how popular policies like Medicare for All actually are with the public.

Industry Groups Spend $263 Million To Kill 2026 Healthcare Transparency Bills
Investigation
0% BS
CorporateJul 5

Industry Groups Spend $263 Million To Kill 2026 Healthcare Transparency Bills

PhRMA and the American Hospital Association spent a combined $263.8 million in early 2026 to dismantle legislation designed to lower drug costs and disclose hospital pricing. The massive lobbying push successfully flipped 14 co-sponsors and captured 84% of the House Ways and Means Committee.

World Cup Health Alert: U.S. Measles Cases Hit 2,030 Days Before Kickoff
Mainstream
Left38% BS
healthJun 7

World Cup Health Alert: U.S. Measles Cases Hit 2,030 Days Before Kickoff

With only three days until kickoff, health officials are warning that the 2026 World Cup could be a perfect storm for infectious diseases. Measles cases in the U.S. have already hit 2,030 this year, nearly matching the total for all of 2025. Between a new Ebola emergency in Africa and a U.S. retreat from global health funding, the stakes feel high. But history suggests these events are often more resilient than the models predict. This is as much a story about budget fights and pharma profits as it is about biology.

Soros Pledges $300M as Feds Quietly Gut Funding for 'Disapproved' Nonprofits
Mainstream
Left72% BS
moneyMay 23

Soros Pledges $300M as Feds Quietly Gut Funding for 'Disapproved' Nonprofits

A Gen Us investigation reveals the regulatory backdoors being used to bypass Congress and defund groups handling everything from student loans to LGBTQ+ healthcare, forcing a choice: mission or survival.

HCA’s $1.8M Lobbying Blitz Protects Junk Fees by Taxing American Seniors
Investigation
0% BS
CorporateMay 23

HCA’s $1.8M Lobbying Blitz Protects Junk Fees by Taxing American Seniors

HCA Healthcare’s Q1 2026 lobbying blitz secured a 48-month delay on Medicare reforms that would have eliminated redundant patient fees. The investigation links $1.8 million in spending and $245,000 in PAC contributions to specific legislative changes that protect hospital margins at the expense of seniors.

Key Questions We're Asking

  • •Why do Americans pay 2-3x more for the same drugs available in Canada and Europe?
  • •How does the FDA revolving door — regulators becoming pharma executives and vice versa — affect drug approval and safety oversight?
  • •What is the relationship between pharmaceutical advertising spending and media coverage of drug pricing policy?
  • •How do pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) capture value between drug manufacturers and patients?
  • •Why does the U.S. government remain prohibited from negotiating drug prices for most Medicare beneficiaries?

What Mainstream Media Misses

  • •Pharma companies claim high drug prices fund R&D, but most spend more on marketing, lobbying, and stock buybacks than on research.
  • •The FDA revolving door is documented but rarely covered as a systemic issue driving regulatory capture.
  • •Direct-to-consumer drug advertising (legal only in the U.S. and New Zealand) is a major revenue source for the media outlets that would otherwise cover pharma critically.
  • •The PBM industry — three companies control 80% of the market — operates as a hidden toll booth that drives up costs while remaining largely invisible to the public.

Follow the Money

  • •The pharmaceutical industry spends over $350 million annually on federal lobbying — more than any other sector.
  • •Drug companies spend over $6 billion annually on direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S.
  • •The top 10 pharmaceutical companies reported combined profits exceeding $100 billion in recent years.
  • •Pharma PACs and executives contributed hundreds of millions to Congressional campaigns, with donations flowing to members of committees with jurisdiction over drug pricing.

Related Learn Pages

Appeal to Authority
How pharma uses doctor endorsements and study citations to sell drugs.
Cherry-Picking
How drug companies selectively publish favorable trial results.
Political Funding Explainer
How pharma lobby money keeps drug prices high.
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