Senators file bill requiring disclosure of MD gifts above $100 per year

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) have filed a bill requiring pharmas and medical device firms to publicly disclose either gifts or payments valued at $100 or more once per calendar year. It would require the firms to report the data to HHS once a year.

This is a step back from a prior bill that would have required these companies to report to HHS quarterly any payouts or gifts to doctors valued at $25 per year, though still far more stringent than state laws that have been proposed or passed. The pharmaceutical industry's trade group, PhRMA, had supported the previous version.

The bill, which would pre-empt state laws on this subject, would allow doctors to contest the pharmaceutical or medical companies' reports, which HHS would then validate.

To learn more about the new measure:
- read this Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report item [1]

Related Articles:
Senators want info on who paid doctors [2]
Medtronic to disclose gifts to healthcare groups [3]
MedPAC mulls financial relationship disclosure rules [4]