GE Healthcare among leaders in Q1 medical device political lobbying

The medical device industry spent more than $20 million on political lobbying in the first quarter of this year.

According to filings made to the Lobbying Disclosure Act Database during the first quarter ended March 31, industry giants and small fries spent amounts ranging from $8.6 million (General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) and all of its subsidiaries, including GE Healthcare) to $10,000 (health information technology provider ZirMed Inc.)

GE and its subsidiaries spent almost 23 percent more than their last quarter’s total of nearly $7 million on lobbying. The next biggest spender was Abbott (NYSE:ABT), whose $1.47 million pales in comparison.

The next on the list are Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) with $1.3 million, Davita Inc.(NYSE:DVA)with $970,000, and 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM) with $910,000. Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) continued its trend of under-spending its peers with only $400,000.

Here’s a partial list of the medical device industry’s fourth-quarter lobbying spend, including a $416,759 contribution from industry advocate AdvaMed:

COMPANY	AMOUNT
3M Co.	$910,000.00
Abbott	$1,470,000.00
Accuray	$70,000.00
AdvaMed	$416,759.00
Allergan	$300,000.00
Arteriocyte Inc	$10,000.00
Baxter Healthcare	$510,000.00
Becton, Dickinson	$210,000.00
Bioject Medical Technologies	$30,000.00
Biomet Inc.	$130,000.00
Boston Scientific	$400,000.00
C.R. Bard	$30,000.00
Calypso Medical Technologies	$60,000.00
Cepheid	$40,000.00
Cochlear Corp	$20,000.00
Cook Group	$100,000.00
Council for American Medical Innovation	$180,000.00
Covidien	$470,000.00
CyberKnife Coalition (Accuray)	$10,000.00
Cyberonics	$25,000.00
Davita Inc.	$970,000.00
DJO Inc.	$60,000.00
Edwards Lifesciences	$320,000.00
eHealth Global Technologies	$350,000.00
GE (including subsidiaries)	$8,590,000.00
GE Healthcare	$20,000.00
Henry Schein Inc.	$110,000.00
Hill Rom Co	$50,000.00
Hill-Rom Holdings	$70,000.00
Hologic	$60,000.00
Hospira	$190,000.00
Intuitive Surgical	$155,000.00
Invacare	$310,000.00
Johnson & Johnson	$175,500.00
Kinetic Concepts	$95,000.00
Life Technologies Corp.	$250,000.00
Mass. Biotechnology Council	$10,000.00
Medical Device Competitiveness Coalition	$50,000.00
Medical Device Manufacturers Assn.	$90,000.00
Medtronic	$1,297,085.00
Mela Sciences Inc.	$120,000.00
Mentor Corp	$60,000.00
NxStage Medical	$40,500.00
PatientSafe Solutions	$30,000.00
Quest Diagnostics	$190,000.00
Riverain Medical	$30,000.00
Smith & Nephew	$30,000.00
SonoSite Inc	$160,000.00
St. Jude	$110,000.00
Steris	$110,000.00
Stryker Corp.	$30,000.00
Tethys Bioscience	$30,000.00
Varian	$180,000.00
Welch Allyn	$110,000.00
Zimmer	$202,000.00
Z-Medica	$60,000.00
TOTAL	$20,106,844.00

[Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons]