Got this email yesterday:
The Senate recently passed legislation prohibiting pharmaceutical and medical device companies from giving gifts to health care providers. This measure is critical for consumers. The industry spends billions of dollars each year on these gifts to increase sales of their products. These costs get passed along to all of us in the amounts we all pay for our medications. Gifts also influence prescribing decisions, increasing prescribing of newer, more expensive drugs without a proven safety and efficacy record.
The pharmaceutical gift ban is now in the House Ways and Means Committee. Please contact your state representative and ask him or her to improve health care access and quality and decrease health care costs by supporting the pharmaceutical gift ban.
[My emphasis.]
Yeah, we've seen some bluster on the part of the pharma companies that they just absolutely have to give doctors tons of awesome swag or the docs will have no idea what they're doing — and the pharma cos will leave town. Uh huh.
Medications are not some tasty treat whose consumption is to be maximized by whatever marketing means; they're medicine. And as such they should be treated differently.
Controlling costs is going to be a process of telling each special interest steak eater stakeholder, one at a time, that they're going to have to give up a little for the whole system not to come crashing down.
State House is 617-722-2000. If you get a yes or no from your rep, post the response here.
UPDATE: I contacted Carl Sciortino's office (not my rep, but the email was handy). This is from Daniel Glasser, his legislative aide:
For the record, Rep. Sciortino hasn't had a chance to review the amendments the Senate recently passed to the gift ban and can't yet take a firm position. He is supportive of the concept, but he wants to ensure that educational materials and drug samples are not included in the ban, since samples are often given by doctors to patients who can't otherwise afford certain prescriptions. I believe those two exceptions were resolved by the Senate, but again we haven't had an opportunity to look the new language over.
The bill is in House Ways & Means now, so the Rep. will have a chance to familiarize himself with the new text before it comes to the floor of the House for a vote.
Charley, just one quibble: Some of the steak eaters will rightly need to give up more than just a little. Some of them will deservedly need to give up rather a lot.
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p>And that is why unflinching, uncompromising legislation with teeth is what is needed.
it’s a little. But I take your point.
Well, not to belabor the point too much, but – in some cases, the gifts are a lot more than “swag.” We’re talking all-expenses paid trips for docs and their spouses to NYC and Vegas and such to “attend a conference” about a particular drug or treatment. The confence takes a couple hours and then it’s off to a fancy restaurant and a Broadway show or a ballgame.
HCFA’s John McDonough puts the issue in context, and debunks some of the opponent’s points, in a blog on the WBUR CommonHealth site: http://www.wbur.org/weblogs/co…
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p>Lots more info is available on the HCFA web site: http://www.hcfama.org/mprc
Kind of hypocritical for legislators to completely ban gifts to doctors, but not ban gifts to themselves.
Kind of hypocritical for John McDonough and Health Care For All to be taking hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state’s health insurance companies, HMO’s and the hospital trade association while attesting to be leading the fight for real health reform*. The “landmark” Chapter 58 health care law with its individual mandate that forces state residents to buy expensive private insurance products with high deductibles, high co-pays, and 20% “co-insurance” is a disgrace (yes, helping the poor get insurance is good, but the rest of the law is bad and takes us in the WRONG direction for meaningful system reform).
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p>The incriminating evidence against Health Care For All (HCFA) is there in black and white in the AG’s office, just look up HCFA’s “Form PC”. Then read it and weep. To underscore the fact that something is very wrong about this flow of money, take the fact that HCFA bestowed their “Lifetime Achievement Award” last year on none other than Bill VanFaasen, the “non-profit” MA Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO who was sent off with a $20Million Golden Parachute…
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p>Where’s the outrage? And please don’t blame the person who thinks that the truth is important and needs to be told.
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p>* Merriam-Webster dictionary Main Entry: re·form
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p>> to put or change into an improved form or condition
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p>> to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses: to put an end to (an evil) by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action
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p>> to become changed for the better
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p>P.S. already called my leges to vote for the pharm gift ban
Legislators are forbidden to take anything from lobbyists. Nothing of value. So the analogy works.