For Immediate Release >> Sunday, May 14, 2000
Campaign 2000: Bush's Diet-Drug Problem (doc #40)
BUSH FRIENDS GAINED RESULTS FOR CLIENTS PUSHING DIETARY SUPPLEMENT, A TIME
INVESTIGATION REVEALS
New York - Texas Governor George W. Bush's regulators backed off tough
controls of a dietary supplement after lobbyists friendly to Bush were hired
by a leading manufacturer and contributed to his 1998 gubernatorial
re-election campaign, TIME's Michael Weisskopf reports.
After proposing in May, 1998 to restrict sales of weight-loss products
containing a stimulant (ephredrine) linked to serious health problems, health
commissioner William "Reyn" Archer changed his mind. Instead, he called in
large manufacturers and let them negotiate rules for marketing their
products. Archer, son of House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, "had gone
from taking the actions of a crusading regulator to those of an industry
ally," TIME reports.
Archer reversed himself because of the ephedrine industry's strong opposition
and its threats of litigation, his spokesman said. But records and interviews
obtained by TIME suggest another plausible reason: the office of Governor
Bush encouraged, if not inspired, Archer's about-face after lawyers close to
Bush began work for a leading manufacturer. Those same lawyers funneled
$40,000 to Bush's re-election drive about the time of a key industry meeting
with Archer.
To press its case, the herbal industry turned to Bush allies, TIME reports.
Metabolife International -- which makes Metabolife 356, the best-selling
herbal diet product in America -- hired a San Antonio law firm headed by some
of Bush's closest political associates including Jeff Wentworth, a powerful
state senator. Wentworth arranged a July 2, 1998 meeting between Metabolife
president Michael Ellis and Archer. Ellis says he called for a "dialogue"
with his industry in place of the tough regulatory stand--a position quietly
being urged on Archer by the governor's office, report two sources involved
in the issue. Just days after Ellis' plea, Archer brought in an outside
lawyer to help him and the state's board of health to negotiate a settlement
with ephedrine producers.
Bush's healthcare adviser, Ron Lindsey, tells TIME he does not recall
pressing Archer to abandon his initial tough-on-ephedrine proposal --
although Lindsey allows that he strongly supported Archer's move to negotiate
with ephedrine producers. Lindsey's 1998 calendar (a copy of which was
obtained by TIME) shows that starting in May, he met with industry officials
-- including Ralph Oats, the owner of Wellness International Network, who,
along with his wife, contributed almost $90,000 to the G.O.P. and national
candidates in the mid-1990s. Lindsey says another Metabolife lawyer, James
Jonas III, paid him a visit apparently to "get leverage" on the issue. But
while Bush and his chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, were kept informed, Lindsey
insists, "there was no pressure from the top" [other than to] "just work this
thing out if you can."
According to copies of Bush's calendar, he met with Archer in mid-July and
mid-September--key junctures in the ephedrine negotiations. He twice saw
Wentworth at political events during this period. But a spokesman in the
Governor's office said Bush did not get involved in Archer's deliberations
and had no discussions with Metabolife's lawyers about ephedrine
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