Massachusetts Bans Drug Firm Gifts to Doctors
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In the past I have blogged about the potential banning of pharmaceutical and medical device companies from providing gifts to physicians, and yesterday Massachusetts state officials gave the final approval to begin regulating this common trend. The regulations include banning gifts to physicians, limiting when companies can pay for doctors’ meals, and requiring companies to publicly disclose payments to doctors over $50 for certain types of consulting and speaking engagements. In addition, companies will have to disclose payments to doctors and hospitals for research designed to promote a particular products (“seeding trials”).
Health officials said that these new regulations are the most comprehensive in the nation. Massachusetts is the only state to require disclosure by device makers and drug companies, and is just one of two states to make disclosures public. According to Legislators, these regulations are intended to control costs by reining in unnecessary prescribing of expensive drugs and to make doctors’ potential conflicts of interest transparent to the public.
Many firms say that the proposal went too far and will discourage firms from doing business.
The president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Robert Coughlin said, “Massachusetts is now seen as the most unfriendly state in the nation toward industry.”
Convention and hotel executives believe that the rules will scare away companies from sponsoring continuing medical education courses for physicians, which brings in millions of dollars into Boston.
These new regulations seem straightforward and other states should follow in making these relationships public knowledge so that their patients will know the relationship between the drug makers and their doctors.