WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A former U.S. House of Representatives committee chairman, who earlier this year ended negotiations to head the pharmaceutical industry's top lobby after critics questioned the ethics of the move, has now accepted the post, the group said on Wednesday.
Rep. W. J. "Billy" Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican, announced in February that he would step down as the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman and leave Congress because of a bleeding ulcer.
Democrats criticized him for considering the high-profile post leading the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which lobbies Congress on behalf of drug companies, while he was still chairman of the committee that regulates the drug industry.
He ended talks with the group, saying the controversy was a distraction. The issue had threatened to create headaches for Tauzin's Republican party in this year's election campaign, which featured a fierce debate over the price of prescription medication.
At the time, Tauzin's spokesman Ken Johnson said the congressman had no second thoughts. "Billy decided to put it behind him. He has served in Congress for nearly 24 years with honor and distinction and he does not want to leave with a cloud over his head," Johnson said in February.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N1573947.htm
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