Drug Industry Enlists An Ex-Cop Lobbyist




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Drug Industry Enlists An Ex-Cop Lobbyist

By Sarah Lueck, The Wall Street Journal
October 22, 2003

The pharmaceutical industry's newest political weapon isn't another well-heeled lobbyist but a New York gumshoe paid as much as $2,500 a day to warn Congress against easing restrictions on importing drugs.

Richard "Bo" Dietl, a tough-talking former New York City police detective, has been spending two or three days a week here, briefing lawmakers and aides on an investigation he conducted into Internet prescription-drug sales.

His firm, Beau Dietl & Associates in New York , ordered more than 100 medications from Internet pharmacies. Some of them arrived improperly packaged, from unexpected countries or from operations run by shady characters -- problems Mr. Dietl says would multiply if Congress legalizes importation.

The campaign by Mr. Dietl, who is a paid consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main drug-industry trade group, is part of the industry effort to stop legislation that would allow pharmacies and wholesalers to bring in cheaper drugs, primarily from Canada .

The provisions are being debated as part of House-Senate negotiations on Medicare drug-benefit legislation.

The drug industry argues that changing current law -- which allows only drug makers and their affiliates to import medicine -- would increase the chance that U.S. consumers would get counterfeit or substandard products. Industry critics say that is nonsense and that the companies merely want to protect profits.

Mr. Dietl doesn't hold back. Last month, he interrupted a news conference held by supporters of legalized importation, including Reps. Gil Gutknecht, a Minnesota Republican, Bernard Sanders, a Vermont Independent, and Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat, as well as Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois .

To bewildered looks, Mr. Dietl yelled: "This is a life or death issue ... you're going to poison half of America . All you want to do is appease the elderly vote."

"This is beyond the pale," Mr. Gutknecht replied, according to a CNBC tape of the event. Someone asked Mr. Dietl who he was working for. "PhRMA," he answered, prompting smirks from Mr. Gutknecht and the other import supporters. Mr. Dietl soon left the news conference.

"These are the kind of people you want to hire," Gov. Blagojevich told the reporters. "They've got a lot of passion for the people that hire them."

Mr. Dietl calls his approach "shock therapy." In the investigation, his firm placed online orders for 146 drugs and received more than 50 even though no doctor had ever written a prescription. He has sent the drugs to be tested, and preliminary results show some contaminants, he says.

In his spiel to lawmakers, Mr. Dietl hands out a 24-page packet including a mug shot of a convicted thief who runs online Web sites selling prescription drugs, and surveillance photos of a New Jersey physician who Mr. Dietl claims writes prescriptions for online customers that he has never met.

Another shot, snapped by Mr. Dietl's man on the ground in Kashmir , shows a dusty truck allegedly transporting medications that will be shipped to U.S. consumers who ordered them online.

The centerpiece of Mr. Dietl's presentation, which prompted gasps in a recent Capitol Hill briefing, is that his children, ages nine and 13, have ordered prescription medicines online. His daughter, Dana, ordered a weight-loss drug that is on the Drug Enforcement Agency's list of controlled substances. And his son, Beau, received a shipment of Prozac, even though he disclosed he was only 4 feet 8 inches tall and 70 pounds.

Mr. Dietl frequently suggests that Osama bin Laden or other terrorists could use the Internet to distribute dangerous drugs to unsuspecting American consumers. "The gloves have to come off. This bill is going to get railroaded through," Mr. Dietl says.

The legislation doesn't directly address online ordering from other countries, an illegal but growing practice. Both the House and Senate bills would allow importation by individuals under certain conditions -- with the House permitting it only when people physically bring medicine into the U.S. Both bills would legalize importation by pharmacies and wholesalers if federal regulars deem it safe, but a separate House bill would do away with the safety certification. The Senate bill would permit drug imports only from Canada while the House bill would allow imports from 25 countries.

But it is unclear how the legislation will fare because some top Republicans oppose it. Supporters say importation could be done with safeguards, and would cut the cost of medicines available at local pharmacies.

That "would reduce Americans' reliance on Internet pharmacies," says Jeff Connor, a spokesman for Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R., Mo.), another co-sponsor of the House provision.

Mr. Dietl says that if U.S. drugstores import medications, consumers couldn't be certain of their safety.

As part of his investigation, he says, his firm easily set up a Web site and began contacting wholesalers about buying medications for resale. "This stuff is going to be re-imported all over the world," says Mr. Dietl.

Mr. Dietl, 52 years old, spent 15 years with the New York Police Department, and wrote about his experiences in a book, "One Tough Cop: the Bo Dietl Story." When the movie came out in 1998, Stephen Baldwin played the title role. The book and movie spawned a computer program called "One Tough ComputerCOP" for parents who want to monitor their children's computer use.

In 1986, Mr. Dietl ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the U.S. House.

Mr. Dietl, who peppers his speech with profanity, is a frequent media commentator on high-profile crimes, and a frequent guest of radio jock Don Imus.

Mr. Dietl's 89-year-old mother, Sally, unwittingly launched her son's mission earlier this year by announcing she planned to order Lipitor over the Internet. Concerned, Mr. Dietl had his researchers order it. When it came in a box from Brazil labeled earmuffs, Mr. Dietl says he told his mother: "No, ma, you're not doing that!"

His mention of the incident on a national television program prompted a call from Mike Collins, a former Republican National Committee spokesman who now runs a communications firm. Mr. Dietl says Mr. Collins hired his firm to investigate online ordering earlier this year, and afterward PhRMA began paying Mr. Dietl as a consultant.

Jeff Trewhitt, a PhRMA spokesman, confirmed that Mr. Collins, also a PhRMA consultant, introduced Mr. Dietl to the group. Mr. Collins didn't return calls requesting comment.

Mr. Dietl "has got something to say that's important," says Mr. Trewhitt, who confirmed that PhRMA pays Mr. Dietl $250 an hour. "I got nothing to hide," Mr. Dietl says of the PhRMA connection.