Senators reintroduce disclosure law
January 23, 2009
Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) continue to push for national legislation requiring pharmaceutical and medical device companies to disclose payments to physicians.
The senators introduced the Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2009, which would require pharmaceutical, biologics, and medical device companies to report payments totaling more than $100 annually that they give to physicians, according to a Grassley press release. The new bill is similar to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2007, which Congress failed to vote on, but reduces the threshold for reporting from $500 to $100.
Payments would be posted online and available to the public. Companies could face fines of up to $1 million for knowingly failing to report payments.
In early January, Edwards Lifesciences announced plans to disclose payments to physicians. Health systems such as the Cleveland Clinic and Penn Medicine also plan to disclose publicly physician payments from industry.
Grassley is considering whether the reporting should also apply to payments made by industry to medical organizations, hospitals, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacists and pharmacies, continuing medical education groups, and medical schools.