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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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