Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17490

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Wang SS
Let the Sun Shine In: Payments to Docs from Companies to be Disclosed
The Wall Street Journal 2010 Mar 26
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/03/26/let-the-sun-shine-in-payments-to-docs-from-companies-to-be-disclosed/

Full text:

Disclosure of financial ties between doctors and drug companies – a topic we’ve written about often – will finally be universally mandated in the physician payment provisions passed as part of the health-care bill. If you need a reminder about the Physician Sunshine Payment Act or past conflicts, read here, here and here.

We talked to Allan Coukell, director of the Pew Prescription Project, which has been a proponent of the act, about what this new legislation means. The first public report will be released in 2013 regarding payments for the prior year. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation:

What is the significance of the act? Why was it needed?

There has been tremendous concern over the extent of the financial links between doctors and drug companies, and the potential of those ties to influence care that patients need. Until now, there was no way for the patients or the public of knowing how extensive those relationships are. This, for the first time, will make those relationships transparent.

What are the physician reporting requirements?

This act requires medical device and pharmaceutical companies to make annual public reports of gifts and payments to doctors and teaching hospitals of anything over $10. There’s nothing that doctors need to report. Doctors can review the materials before they go public.

If an individual receives more than $100 from a company in a year, then everything [even amounts less than $5] must be reported.

What will the consequences of the act be?

I think it’s possible that the companies will decide that it’s no longer worth it to give out a lot of small gifts and payments because they’ll have to track all those things. I think some physicians, knowing that the relationships with industry will be open to scrutiny, may re-evaluate certain kinds of relationships … Research will continue but with more promotional and market-oriented [relationships], there may be some individuals who will decide to cut back on that kind of work. We will be able to have a much more informed public discussion about these types of relationships.

Is this measure enough to curb conflicts between doctors and industry?

[This measure] is about transparency. I think we will be watching and I’m sure policy makers will be watching to see how things evolve. We will have more information than we ever had before and we’ll have some sense of whether more steps need to be taken.

There has also been concern over payments to other health-care providers, such as nurse practitioners, as well as between companies and disease advocacy groups.

Read here for more from Pew.