Q: What is the Physician Payments Sunshine Act?
A: I introduced legislation in September that would require manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs, devices and biologics to disclose the amount of money they give to doctors through consulting fees, gifts, honoraria, travel and other means. Right now the public has no way to know whether a doctor has been given money that might affect prescribing habits. My bipartisan bill is about letting the sun shine in so that the public can know. Whether it’s dinner at a restaurant or tens of thousands of dollars or more each year in fees and travel expenses, patients shouldn’t be in the dark about whether their doctors are getting money from drug, device and biologics makers. For the last three years, I’ve conducted rigorous oversight of the way the Food and Drug Administration interacts with the pharmaceutical industry, and I’ve investigated the educational grants made by drug companies to doctors.
Q: How will this legislation improve the healthcare system?
A: This bill doesn’t prevent drug companies from paying doctors for consulting, speaking, or other professional activities. Rather, it puts a premium on openness, disclosure and the patient’s right to know. If the public has a right to know who is giving money to their elected officials, they ought to know who is giving money to their doctors. The Physician Payments Sunshine Act (S.2029) requires pharmaceutical drug, device and biologics manufacturers with $100 million or more in annual gross revenues to report such payments. Penalties for not reporting would range from $10,000 to $100,000 per violation. To make the reporting publicly available, the legislation requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create a website and post the payment information in a clear and understandable manner. Bottom line, this measure is aimed at bringing much needed transparency to the financial relationships that exist between the pharmaceutical device and biologics industry and doctors. It builds on state-level initiatives in
Minnesota , Vermont , Maine and West Virginia , and under consideration in Iowa .