BMJ  2008;336:1268 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39598.476250.DB

News

Drug industry weakens US bill about disclosure of gifts

Bob Burton

1 Hobart

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The US drug industry has persuaded key Congressional legislators to water down proposed legislation that would require detailed public disclosure of payments and gifts to doctors.

In September 2007 the senators Chuck Grassley and Herb Kohl introduced the Physician Payments Sunshine Act 2007 to counter an estimated $19bn (£9.6bn; {euro}12.3bn) spent a year courting doctors. At the time Mr Grassley told the Senate that "the best disinfectant" to payments to doctors was "sunshine," which means openness.

Benefits provided to doctors, he said, "can be a simple dinner after work, or they can add up to tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars each year . . . It is really pretty shocking."

The bill initially proposed that drug companies and medical device manufacturers with a turnover of more than $100m must file a report each quarter that details all individual payments of more than $25 made directly . . . [Full text of this article]


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