One Step Closer to Medical Transparency: Pew's Analysis of the Final Rule for the Physician Payments Sunshine Act

On Feb. 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published the final rule guiding implementation of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which Congress passed as part of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010 to increase transparency in the relationships between physicians and drug and medical device makers. Here are some of the highlights. More info

''Finding Out Who Pays Your Doctor''

"The Obama administration issued a new rule this month that requires the makers of prescription drugs and other medical products to disclose what they pay doctors for various purposes, like consulting or speaking on behalf of the manufacturer. This overdue rule adds much-needed weight to previous, more limited disclosure requirements."

More info

Pew Commends Strong Transparency Rule for Physician-Industry Relationships

Allan Coukell, director of medical programs for The Pew Charitable Trusts, issued the following statement in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' final rule for implementing the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which will bring transparency to the financial relationships between physicians and drug and medical device companies.

More info

Persuading the Prescribers: Pharmaceutical Industry Marketing and its Influence on Physicians and Patients

In 2011, the pharmaceutical industry spent nearly $29 billion on drug promotion — more than $25 billion on marketing directly to physicians and almost $4 billion on advertising directly to consumers (mainly through television commercials). This multi-pronged approach is designed to promote its products by influencing doctors’ prescribing practices.

 

More info

''One-Stop Shopping Proposed For Conflict Disclosure''

"Harmonizing conflict-of-interest standards will depend on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services moving forward to implement the federal Sunshine law, which is now more than a year behind schedule. Industry, consumers and academic stakeholders are all waiting on CMS to issue a final rule."

More info

IOM Report Shows Administration Must Lead on Transparency

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a new paper, "Harmonizing Reporting on Potential Conflicts of Interest," which notes that "the current process of disclosure (of financial relationships between healthcare professionals and the medical industry) is fragmented and burdensome" and, as a result, the need for a harmonized system has become "urgent and compelling."

More info

''Is Psychiatry Committing 'Professional Suicide'?''

During a session at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting on conflicts of interest, experts delved into the link between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. While several speakers at the session pointed out that other specialties are similarly entangled with industry, "everyone does it" is generally not a valid defense where conflicts of interest are concerned.

More info

''Is Big Pharma Getting Too Much Flak From Doctors?

"Big Pharma's image problem, fueled by numerous high-profile scandals, may have made doctors so skeptical of the industry that it's warping their judgment, a new survey suggests."
More info

Written Statement of Record Regarding the Sunshine Act by Dr. Daniel J. Carlat of the Pew Health Group

Dr. Daniel Carlat, Director of the Pew Prescription Project, appeared before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to testify about the importance of implementing the Physician Payments Sunshine Act as quickly as possible.

More info

Joint Comments with Medtronic to CMS on Sunshine Implementation

The Pew Charitable Trusts “Pew” and Medtronic, Inc. are pleased to jointly comment on the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed rule implementing Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act.

More info