New bill introduced in Senate: Drug co's must report how much they pay docs Posted by Meg at 09/10/07 06:04 PM

Last week Senator Grassley of Iowa introduced The Physician Payments Sunshine Act in the Senate that would require drug companies to disclose how much money they give to doctors. Its name refers to the need to shine light on the financial relationships that exist between drug makers and doctors.

Here’s the skinny on the bill:

Who reports: Manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices that gross over $100 million annually
What's reported: Any payment or gift worth $25 or more – including funding for research, travel, speakers fees, conferences, consulting
How often: 4 times/year
Who they report to: Dept. of Health and Human Services, who must put the info on a public website
Penalty for not reporting: $10,000 - $100,000 per violation
States that already have reporting laws: Minnesota, Maine, Vermont, West Virginia

...and other fun facts:

Amount spent by the drug industry marketing to doctors: Approx. $19 billion/year
Percentage of doctors that received freebies, gifts or payments from drug companies last year: 94%
Universities that have banned gifts to doctors: Stanford, Yale, Penn

Excerpt from Senator Grassley’s introduction of the bill:

"There is no question that the drug and device industries have an intricate network of financial ties with practicing physicians. These financial relationships can take many forms. They can include speaking honoraria, consulting fees, free travel to exotic locations for conferences, or funding for research. Drug and device companies spend billions and billions of dollars every year marketing their products. A good amount of this money goes directly to doctors in the form of these payments.

This practice, and the lack of transparency around it, can obscure the most important question that exists between doctor and patient: what is best for the patient?

As the editorial board of the Des Moines Register wrote recently, “Your doctor’s hands may be in the till of a drug company. So how can you know whether the prescription he or she writes is in your best interest, or the best interest of a drug company?” That’s an excellent question. Currently, the public has no way of knowing whether their doctor has taken payments from the drug and device industries, and I intend to change that — not just for Iowans but for all Americans.

Payments to a doctor can be big or small. They can be a simple dinner after work or they can add up to tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. That’s right – hundreds of thousands of dollars for one doctor. It’s really pretty shocking.

Companies wouldn’t be paying this money unless it had a direct effect on the prescriptions doctors write, and the medical devices they use. Patients, of course, are in the dark about whether their doctor is receiving this money.”

What can you do? Call or email your Senators and tell them you support Senator Grassley's Physician Payment Sunshine Act - ask them to sign on as a co-sponsor!

comments (1)

1 Posted by Debbie at 05/07/08 11:48 PM

I am employed by a pharmaceutical company. I can tell you that we are not allowed to give gifts, cash, etc. to physicians. We do provide lunches on occasion which provides us with face-to-face time with health care professionals and our spending is monitored by the company on a per physician basis. If we spend one cent over what is allowed, we are called on the carpet. The majority of companies signed an agreement called the pharma code which means that there are NO FREE trips to exotic places, no cash given, etc. to any physician. If these rules are not followed, we can be fired on the spot. We are encouraged to report any representative of any company who is not in compliance with the pharma code.

This is serious business. As a sales person for my company, I want physicians to prescribe my product for the right patient to ensure success for the patient. There is no one drug on this planet that is the right medicine for every patient. We are required by law to provide physicians with a safety message on every call to inform them of the side effects, etc. associated with our product(s). We have many, many restrictions in terms of what we can say to physicians about our product, what speakers are allowed to say at a program, and how we conduct business. We have compliance training on what we can and cannot do every 3 months.

We do provide patient samples to physicians so that patients can try the medicine to see if it works for them and does not cause any problems before they get a prescription filled. Senator Grassley has probably received samples from his physician.

IF a physician takes money from anyone, he/she has no integrity. I am sure it does happen, but not with anyone I currently know. I don't even know how a physician can make hundreds of thousands of dollars from a drug company.

Ten or more years ago, I wouldn't doubt that some of what is mentioned in the above blog took place but not in today's environment. The patient is the focus in today's environment. Making a difference in someone's life is the focus. Helping patients have a better quality of life is the focus.

Senator Grassely needs to take another look at how pharmaceutical companies conduct business in today's environment. His information is not correct in the year 2008.