Grassley, Kohl Continue Campaign To Disclose Financial Ties Between Doctors And Drug Companies
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) today introduced legislation to require makers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and biologics to publicly report money they give to doctors over $100 every year.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2009 would establish a nationwide standard requiring drug, device and biologic makers to report payments to doctors to the Department of Health and Human Services and for those payments to be posted online in a user friendly way for public consumption. It would establish penalties as high as $1 million for knowingly failing to report the information. The proposal incorporates many of the new recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent congressional agency which advises Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program.
Frankly, its about time they cleaned up these dirty relationships. The legit ones will endure, but the bad eggs need to be exposed for who they are.
Legitimate, Ethical, Consulting Agreements, Buying the Business, these are words that are related to one another in the Spine Industry. Just ask Blackstone and the surgeons it worked with. When will this industry decide to really police itself? NASS mandate for disclosure; a joke. AdvaMed: the Keystone Cops. AdvaMed is like the parent who hears their children screaming on the second floor, proceed to go to the landing and yell up; Is everything all right? When you get paid $19MM you’re a lobbyist for Medtronic not a surgeon. I am a proponent for surgeons getting compensated for their contributions, unfortunately, we have to draw the line on what is an equitable comp agreement. Full disclosure with a cap on compensation is the only way we will have transparency. PS: Based on what has surfaced in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the DOJ Settlement I don’t want to hear doctors complaining that they don’t make enough of money.