According to USA Today, nine states—including my home state of Massachusetts—are considering legislation that would require closer scrutiny of all pharma gifts to physicians. Massachusetts is taking it a step further, with a proposal to ban all gifts to medical professionals. From the article:
- State Sen. George Maziarz, R-N.Y., sponsored a bill to require such reporting after working in an office complex that also housed several doctors.
"They would show me their gifts: watches, leather jackets, golfing trips," he says. "Someone is paying for that."
Four states -- Vermont, Minnesota, West Virginia and Maine -- and the District of Columbia have laws requiring gift reporting by drugmakers.
California requires that drugmakers declare they are compliant with federal and industry gift guidelines.
"Within a year or two, we may have 20 or 25 states with these restrictions," says Ron Buzzeo, chief regulatory officer at Dendrite International, which advises the pharmaceutical industry and has developed a way firms can track state regulations and requirements.
OK, but who's regulating the regulators?
(Thanks to Pharma Gossip for the pointer.)
