; (ii) other Federal entities, such as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and (iii) other private and public entities, which may include the Drug Effectiveness Review Project and Medicaid programs. (F) Consider recommendations made by the advisory committee pursuant to paragraph (3)(F). (G) Recommend to the Secretary those drugs in a class that provide a greater clinical benefit, including fewer safety concerns or less risk of side-effects, than another drug in the same class. (3) Use of advisory committee (A) In general The Secretary shall establish and appoint an advisory committee (in this paragraph referred to as the advisory committee )— (i) to review petitions from drug manufacturers, health care provider organizations, patient groups, and other entities regarding negotiated prices; and (ii) to recommend any changes in order to further negotiations with respect to such prices. (B) Composition Subject to subparagraph (C), the advisory committee shall be composed of 9 members and shall include representatives of physicians, pharmacists, consumers, and others with expertise in evaluating prescription drugs. The Secretary shall select members based on their knowledge of pharmaceuticals and the Medicare population. Members shall be deemed to be special Government employees for purposes of applying the conflict of interest provisions under section 208 of title 18, United States Code, and no waiver of such provisions for such a member shall be permitted. (C) Banned individuals (i) Drug company lobbyists No former registered drug manufacturer lobbyist— (I) may be appointed to the advisory committee