An old-school pharmacy hand-delivers drugs to Congress, a little-known perk for the powerful

I’ve always wondered about this.

Saying that, I think this is an area where even members of Congress deserve privacy. Pharmaceutical choices can be difficult ones and the pressure not to take certain drugs that might be helpful because one doesn’t want it getting out is a serious issue. Even Congresspeople shouldn’t have to suffer needlessly.

However they should keep their desire for privacy in mind when crafting laws that expose the everyday citizen to the type of scrutiny they wish to avoid.

(From STAT News)

If House Speaker Paul Ryan comes down with the flu this winter, he and his security detail won’t be screeching off toward the closest CVS for his Tamiflu.

Instead, he can just walk downstairs and pick up the pills, part of a little-known perk open to every member of Congress, from Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell down to the newest freshman Democrat.

Nearly every day for at least two decades pharmaceutical drugs have been brought by the carload to the Capitol — an arrangement so under the radar that even pharmacy lobbyists who regularly pitch Congress on their industry aren’t aware of it.

The deliveries arrive at the secretive Office of the Attending Physician, an elaborate medical clinic where Navy doctors triage medical emergencies and provide basic health care for lawmakers who pay an annual fee of just over $600. Every one comes from Washington’s oldest community pharmacy, Grubb’s.

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