AdvaMed (The Advanced Medical Technology Association) spent $3.1 million lobbying the federal government last year on issues affecting medical devices. The group lobbied on FDA funding and user fees, most notably. AdvaMed also lobbied on the reauthorization of a government health care plan for poor children.

The trade group spent nearly $1.6 million lobbying Congress, the White House and various agencies on those issues in the second half of 2007, according to a government disclosure form posted online Feb. 6.

Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.