U.S. to Force Drug Firms to Report Money Paid to Doctors

[alp227]

To head off medical conflicts of interest, the Obama administration is poised to require drug companies to disclose the payments they make to doctors for research, consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment.

Many researchers have found evidence that such payments can influence doctors’ treatment decisions and contribute to higher costs by encouraging the use of more expensive drugs and medical devices.

Consumer advocates and members of Congress say patients may benefit from the new standards, being issued by the government under the new health care law. Federal officials said the disclosures increased the likelihood that doctors would make decisions in the best interests of patients, without regard to the doctors’ financial interests.

Large numbers of doctors receive payments from drug and device companies every year — sometimes into the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars — in exchange for providing advice and giving lectures. Analyses by The New York Times and others have found that about a quarter of doctors take cash payments from drug or device makers and that nearly two-thirds accept routine gifts of food, including lunch for staff members and dinner for themselves.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/health/policy/us-to-tell-drug-makers-to-disclose-payments-to-doctors.html?pagewanted=all

[Stuart G]

1. Good news...nt..K and R..

[demosincebirth]

2. No republican president would ever do this...that's for sure

[leftyohiolib]

31. thats right and an important point for the

barack-obama-has-lost-my-vote crowd to remember

[demosincebirth]

33. It's probably not their issue and they will continue to stomp their feet and

throw tantrums like a bunch of spoiled brats because he hasn't addressed "their" issue.

[siligut]

3. This has to happen

Analyses by The New York Times and others have found that about a quarter of doctors take cash payments from drug or device makers and that nearly two-thirds accept routine gifts of food, including lunch for staff members and dinner for themselves.

Patient care has to come first. I don't believe people go into medicine with the intention of shilling for the drug companies, but after time, slowly the money has its influence.

[MADem]

4. About damn time.

Now we can say to the doctors, "Well, I said I wanted the damn generic, and since you're going to have to report payments from drug companies anyway, you may as well give it to me without a fight, because that way you won't look like you're in their pockets."

Then watch 'em squirm.

I know a guy who works for a pharmaceutical company. He's a fantastic bullshit artist. Every year, he gets the Top Sales awards, and he gets to take his whole family to the "company picnic"--which usually lasts a week or so, in places like Hawaii or on a cruise ship.

I often ask him how he can live with himself. He laughs and drives off in his high-end Mercedes.

[eggplant]

5. My doc refuses to even *talk* to the drug reps

And regularly tosses all of their waiting-room "literature" into the trash. He shares office space with other practices that aren't so forthright, and does this as a public service.

[Fearless]

6. +1000!

[AlecBGreen]

18. bravo!

Shake his hand for me next time I never understood drug commercials. "Ask your doctor about..." BULLSHIT! If you have a problem, tell your doctor about The Problem. They, being the professional, will point you in the right direction. Enough of this crap already.

[meow2u3]

26. Prescription drug commercials do only one thing: drive up the price of your meds

... so they're too expensive for most people to afford without breaking the bank.

Next time you see those prescription drug ads on TV or in magazines, you might as well "ask your doctor how much kickback money the drug companies pay him to prescribe the drugs they advertise on TV, radio, and magazines."

[Mojorabbit]

23. Not my husband. He gets all the free samples he can for his patients. nt

[flpab]

25. my doc is good also BUT....

they always complain about the food from the reps, they were all gaining weight. I know even my vet gets huge freebies from drug companies. I love how they take a class during their two week exotic trip and write the whole thing off on taxes. In my state the local news had a blurb about the amount of extra money certain doctors were making off drug companies. My Mom is on three blood pressure meds? Why?

[drmeow]

7. Classic RW media spin in the headline

"US to force" - whole different emotional response than "US to require" even though both are accurate. And that is just rewording the existing title. Wouldn't it be novel if the headline read "New health care law will make drug company payments to MDs public"

[Festivito]

8. Well caught. /nt

[jkappy]

12. An Incredibly Deceptive Headline! n/t

[quakerboy]

24. I dunno.

I kinda like the headline, and the emotional response to it.

"To force" makes me think "this is happening, and its about time", where "to require" makes me think "or what, they get a firmly worded letter?", in a slightly sarcastic tone.

The complete rewrite is probably the most passive and least informative of them, in my opinion. It sounds neutral, but it seems to indicate that it will inherently release that info. But that is not the case, is it? The drug companies will have to disclose, and I doubt they will do it willingly, as they get a sweet deal off of the kickbacks they give Dr's. So they will have to be forced.

[drmeow]

32. I think that for those of us

who are more aware, more politically active, and more unhappy about the status quo, force in this context does not have the same connotations as people who have bought into the mindset that government is the problem and that government is dangerous. Those people see "force" and think "damn government with their boot on the neck of corporations." It also implies a "war" waged by the government. It is a very definite propaganda tool used to elicit a certain type of response in the majority of people.

[sarcasmo]

9. This has been needed for a long time.

[just1voice]

10. Universal health care is what the majority of Americans need

to rid this country of the corrupt for-profit system. Nothing else even gets close to ending the corruption and never will.

[midnight]

11. Psychiatrist make more an hour if they prescribe drugs vs a talking session...

[babylonsister]

19. You obviously haven't been to a good psychiatrist. nt

[Sgent]

20. Psychiatirsts

also make a lot more than either by doing ECT or VNS (electroshock), but that doesn't mean they do it on everyone who walks through their door.

[Hotler]

13. Just more BIG government.

I couldn't find the sarcasm thingy. I hope this goes through and pisses the drug Co's off.

[TBF]

14. Just a bandaid ...

while it's a positive thing, it is not the long-term solution. We need single-payer health care in this country.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Key word: "poised"

Make of it what you will.

[Islandlife]

16. And to politicians?

Let's see it all.

[babylonsister]

17. For Pete's sake (who is Pete anyway?), I will choose to

view this as good news. iirc, the initial healthcare law had lots of things that would happen after it initially passed. This is one of them hopefully, and the fact that it wasn't dusted under a rug and is front and center has to count for something.

I REFUSE to be so negative, and view this as good news. So THERE!

[zaj]

21. Pharma Payola... Imagine if paying Dr's was as illeagel as paying DJ's...

I've always been a little confused by Payloa laws preventing. Even more so given that it's perfectly legal for Pharma companies to pay Dr's to promote their drugs, but it's illegal for record companies to do the same for their songs.

[glinda]

22. They need to include Dentists and Veterinarians in this.

[cpamomfromtexas]

27. Notice the categories covered, it doesn't include kickbacks for script writing volume

[Scuba]

28. Will that include the scrumptions meals delivered daily to physician practices....

.... by absolutely adorable pharmaceutical salesmen and women?

Will it include the "education" sessions that Big Pharma conducts for physicians in "therapeutic indicators" for the latest drug? Sessions conducted at upscale resorts with 30 minutes of education followed by golf, feasting and entertainment galore? Will those be reported?


The abuses in this industry are not only many and varied, they are dangerous.

[duhneece]

29. Very encouraging nt

[Irishonly]

30. I took my elderly neighbor to the doctor a while back

I stayed in the waiting room and got an education from a couple of reps for a pharmacutical couple. I don't think they knew I was listening. Their job was to push certain drugs from their supplier or whatever you call them. Even though they had multiple suppliers they were told to push certain drugs rather than others that would do the same thing. Corruption rules.