A Politico report on healthcare stock trades made by members of Congress has raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest by legislators who make decisions that influence the price of their investments.
In particular, Politico said several Representatives purchased shares in a company named by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price during his confirmation hearings. The report also questioned whether members of Congress took advantage of passage of the 21st Century Cures Act to invest in stocks that would benefit from the more than $6 billion in funding the bill included for medical research and for fast-tracking drug approval.
During confirmation hearings for Price in January, several Senate Democrats hammered the then Republican representative from Georgia about his stock trades in medical device company Zimmer Biomet and drug company Innate Immunotherapeutics, while serving on Congressional committees that made decisions benefitting those businesses.
[Also: In Trump's first quarter, pharma companies doubled their lobbying spending]
Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, said Price's investment in the drug company was done while the 21st Century Cures Act was being negotiated.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said that six days after Price purchased stock in Zimmer Biomet, a manufacturer of hips and knees, Price introduced a bill in the House to suspend regulations on hip and knee replacements.
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota said Price made a $50,000 to $100,000 profit on the stock purchase.
Democratic senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut said Price invested as much as $90,000 in six drug companies.
[Also: Documents show Tom Price showed little restraint with personal trading in healthcare stocks]
Price said at the time he was unaware of the stocks in which his broker was investing and that numerous members of the committee likely held similar investments they probably knew nothing about.
"Everything we have done has been above-board, transparent, ethical and legal," Price said during one hearing. "The fact of the matter, I didn't know those trades were being made."
After the confirmation hearings, several members of Congress bought shares in Innate Immunotherapeutics, Politico reported, naming Republicans Doug Lamborn of Colorado, Billy Long of Missouri and Mike Conaway and John Culberson, both of Texas.
Legislators other than Price who contributed to the writing of the 21st Century Cures Act also bought drug stocks during this time. Rhode Island Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins, and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, invested in pharmaceutical companies over the months that the bill was being put together, according to Politico, reporting on the results of a three-month investigation into the stock trades of members of Congress.
[Also: 21st Century Cures Act passes Senate; Obama says he'll sign]
Politico found that of 28 House members and six Senators who traded more than 100 stocks over the past two years, a handful traded in companies that also had an interest in their work on Capitol Hill.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse