Senate Bill Would Require Drug, DME Companies to Report Payments and Gifts to Physicians

The Senate has revised a bill that would require drug and medical device manufacturers to publicly report payments and gifts to physicians.

Previous iterations of the bill required all gifts valued at $25 or more to be disclosed, but that amount has been increased to $500 under the revised legislation. The revised bill also requires all drug and medical device makers to report gifts, rather than only companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue. The legislation would require the companies to begin disclosing payments on March 31, 2011, and it would pre-empt several state laws that require drug makers to disclose payments to physicians.

More information on this bill will be communicated to members as it becomes available.