As if we needed more proof of who really runs the government, an analysis by MAPLight.org of the pharma industry contributions over the last 6 years to Senators who voted for or against Brian Dorgan's amendment to allow import of prescription drugs clearly shows that those Senators who voted against the amendment collected much more money from pharma than did those who voted for it. This was true for all senators as well as for just Democrats plus Independents.
Breakdown below along with my statistical analysis ....
The average contributions are as follows:
All Democrats (and Independents)
Average to Yes votes (allow imports): $41,894
Average to No votes (block imports): $73,729
All Senators
Average to Yes votes (allow imports): $50,767
Average to No votes (block imports): $85,812
The data do not include figures for Senator Byrd, who did not vote, or for Senators Burris, Kirk, and LeMieux, who were recently appointed or elected.
Democrats voting "no" collected 76% more than did those voting "yes."
The average contribution can be misleading because of the distorting effects of outliers much like what happens with average income figures where a relatively few making billions raises the average income. I therefore calculated the median contribution, which is the middle-most amount (i.e., at the middle of the ranked contributions from low to high) and provides a more accurate picture. The median contribution shows an even greater difference of 148% for Democrats voting "no" vs. "yes." Interestingly, the difference for Republicans was smaller (67% higher for "no" voters), although the overall amounts contributed to Republicans were higher ($83,949 and $52,275 for those against and for).
All Democrats (and Independents)
Median to Yes votes (allow imports): $17,900
Median to No votes (block imports): $44,400
All Senators
Median to Yes votes (allow imports): $38,867
Median to No votes (block imports): $69,998
These data do not include the Senators listed above nor Senator Johnson who was MAPLight shows as having a negative contribution, perhaps because he returned contributions.
I analyzed the data using a Mann-Whitney method which tests for differences between ranks, in this case for contributions of "no" and "yes" voters. The differences in money taken from pharma between all Senators or just Democratic Senators voting for or against are statistically significant with probability values of <0.0001 for all senators and <0.006 for just Democratic senators. In other words, the probablility of these differences being due to chance is miniscule. In short, not even close.</p>
Conclusion: The vote on importation of prescription drugs was driven largely by how much money Senators got from the pharma industry. Why is this not a surprise.