Tucked into the 21st Century Cures Act, which is aimed at speeding up the approval process for drugs and medical devices, are provisions pulling back requirements for those companies to disclose payments made to physicians.
ProPublica reports the bill would remove parts of the 2010 Physician Payments Sunshine Act. The requirements for drug and device makers to report meals provided to physicians—which ProPublica says make up about 87 percent on non-research payments to doctors from the industry—would stay in place.
What they would no longer have to report is the value of textbooks and medical journal reprints given to doctors, as well as payments for continuing medical education courses.
“Textbooks are pretty expensive and they’re pretty important, and doctors can generally afford them,” he said. “But if companies are going to give them for free, I don’t think that should stay hidden. ... I’m a big supporter of a successful and innovative pharmaceutical industry, but I think there should be a bit of distance with the medical profession.”
For more on why the pharmaceutical companies lobbied hard for rolling back those disclosures, and how the Republican sponsor of the 2010 law wants those provisions stripped from the Cures Act, click on the link below:
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.