Billy Tauzin — the former Louisiana congressman who stuck with the homespun phrases even as he pulled down $2 million a year to represent the drug industry in DC — is stepping down as the head of PhRMA, the big trade group.
The WSJ notes that he was criticized “for his support of the White House’s now-teetering plan to overhaul health care.”
Exhibit A is the letter John Boehner, the House Republican leader, sent last year to Tauzin, to complain about the $80 billion deal the drug industry struck with the Democrats. Boehner accused the industry of cutting a deal with a “bully.”
Late yesterday, PhRMA said Tauzin’s resignation is effective June 30, and a search for his successor will start immediately. The group’s statement included this quote from Tauzin:
In January 2005, after a full year successfully battling a killer cancer, I was given a second chance at life, and appropriately chose to commit my next five years to the life-saving work of the people whose miracle medicines had just saved my own For the past five years, I have given my all to that effort at PhRMA, and believe we have made a significant difference together.
Tauzin Flashback: Tauzin has a way with words. When the drug industry was coming under fire from Congress a few years ago, Tauzin got on a conference call with drug execs and told them: “Your house is on fire and you’re still smoking in bed.”
Photo: Associated Press