The lead U.S. drug industry lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [3] (PhRMA), spent $10.7 million in the first six months of 2007 lobbying the U.S. government. (In the preceding six-month period, PhRMA spent $8.8 million.) Associated Press reports that PhRMA'S latest lobbying report, required under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 [4], states that the group lobbied Congress, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [5], the Department of Health and Human Services [6], and other agencies on "issues related to Medicare, patent reform, international trade and drug fees, importation and safety." Billy Tauzin [7], a former Republican member of the House of Representatives from Louisiana turned PhRMA chief executive, is one of the group's registered lobbyists.