Fiscal Footnote: Big Senate Gift to Drug Maker

Senator's Gift To Big Pharma Causing Problems For Medicare
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, as fiscal cliff negotiations continued. Working against a midnight deadline, negotiators for the White House and congressional Republicans in Congress narrowed their differences Monday on legislation to avert across-the-board tax increases. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, as fiscal cliff negotiations continued. Working against a midnight deadline, negotiators for the White House and congressional Republicans in Congress narrowed their differences Monday on legislation to avert across-the-board tax increases. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after pleading guilty in a major federal fraud case, Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology firm, scored a largely unnoticed coup on Capitol Hill: Lawmakers inserted a paragraph into the “fiscal cliff” bill that did not mention the company by name but strongly favored one of its drugs.

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