Drug and medical device companies will soon have to report to the federal government all payments they make to physicians who are not their employees, reports the New York Times. Under requirements likely to go into effect after a public comment period ends on 17 February, every company selling products approved for use under Medicare or Medicaid will have to disclose everything they pay to non-employee physicians, ranging from research grants and consultancy and lecture fees to snacks for meetings.
Reports must include payments for royalties and to teaching hospitals, and also all "ownership or investment interest" apart from "publicly traded stock" held by physicians or their close relatives. Information from the reports will be available to the public on a website.
The new regulations don't attempt to define what makes a payment proper or improper, the article states. Penalties for incorrect reporting start at $10,000 per payment missed and could reach $1 million per year per company. Each companies' top officials will have to certify that their reports are complete and accurate. The Times article is here.
