Full article reprinted from "The Gray Sheet" - January 5, 2008
Find out how Edwards Lifesciences says it will begin this year to voluntarily disclose on its Web site financial relationships with physicians who receive $5,000 or more from the firm in annual consulting fees, royalties or honoraria.
Edwards To Post Physician Payments Online In Advance Of Possible Mandate
Full article reprinted from "The Gray Sheet" - January 5, 2008
A more comprehensive disclosure policy could be rolled out in future years as tracking and reporting systems are improved, the firm said Dec. 23.
"In the meantime, we hope that launching this voluntary program in advance of a federal mandate can help inform the debate as we learn from our experience," said Michael Mussallem, CEO of Edwards.
The initial data to be posted will cover the first half of 2009 and will go online in the middle of this year.
The latest version of the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act circulated in May by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Herb Kohl, D-Wis., goes beyond Edwards' initial commitment. It would require every device company to report all $25-and-over payments made to physicians that receive an annual total of at least $500, with protections provided for trade secrets (1"The Gray Sheet" May 26, 2008, p. 14).
Meanwhile, unless federal legislation pre-empts it, a recently enacted Massachusetts law will compel Edwards and the rest of the device industry, by July 1, 2010, to publicly report all $50-and-over payments made to Massachusetts-based physicians associated with sales and marketing activities.
Sales and marketing activities would not include consulting and research contract payments but would include training and education provisions under draft regulations (2"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 15, 2008, p. 3).
A few days prior to Edwards' announcement, AdvaMed, whose board is chaired by Mussallem, updated its code of ethics for interactions with health care professionals, including a new ban on providing entertainment, recreation and non-educational gifts (3"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 22, 2008, p. 5).
- David Filmore
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