Newspapers Publish Editorials On Disclosure Bill Introduced By Grassley

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 18 Sep 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Two newspapers published editorials addressing Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) recent announcement that he will introduce legislation that would require drug makers to make public payments to any physician who bills Medicare and Medicaid programs. Summaries appear below.

• Boston Globe: The "trick" to making the new rules a useful tool is ensuring that they are "not so sweeping that patients have difficulty finding the information they need," a Globe editorial states, adding, "For instance, a company's donation of a new wing to an entire teaching hospital should not be listed as a contribution to each affiliated doctor, as the Senate version of the bill now appears to require." A "streamlined bill would focus attention on the most direct gifts of pharmaceutical companies to doctors," the Globe says, concluding, "That would help patients make sure that their interests are paramount in their doctor's prescribing practices," according to the Globe (Boston Globe, 9/12).
  
• Des Moines Register: Physicians -- "some of whom have received in excess of $100,000 annually from drug makers -- may be influenced to prescribe certain drugs, which might not be the most appropriate and might be more expensive than generic alternatives," a Register editorial states. "There's nothing like a little transparency to encourage ethical and honest behavior," it continues. The editorial concludes that under the proposed legislation, if "drug companies fail to disclose information, they could be fined from $10,000 to $100,000 per offense -- a punishment most Americans won't feel any pain about" (Des Moines Register, 9/13).
  

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