kikipeepers asked
Drugmakers' gifts to doctors finally get needed scrutiny Mon Oct 14, 7:35 AM ET Christmas trees. Free tickets to a Washington Redskins game, with a champagne reception thrown in. A family vacation in Hawaii. And wads of cash. Such gifts would trigger a big red ''bribery'' alert in the mind of just about any public official or government contractor. But not, it seems, in the minds of many doctors. They have been raking in jaw-dropping gifts from pharmaceutical firms battling to give their products an edge in an increasingly competitive market. Bad enough that the practice taints the independence of doctors who are supposed to advocate for patients, not drug companies. But the 'marketing' costs are built into skyrocketing drug prices, which have risen more than 15% a year on average since 1999. Those who pay for prescription drugs ultimately foot the generous inducements, including patients, employers and taxpayers, who spend $30 billion for drugs through Medicare and Medicaid. Yet government regulators have largely ignored pharmaceutical-company practices that would have set off ethical and legal alarms in other industries. Until now, that is. In a welcome case of calling a bribe a bribe, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is warning drugmakers that gifts or payments to doctors could violate federal fraud statutes. A credible threat of fines and jail time is needed to halt the multibillion-dollar effort to buy doctors - and drive up consumers' drug costs in the process. Ending the marketing tactics also would help restore patients' trust in the integrity of doctors. The need for change is great. An April survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit health-research group, estimated that pharmaceutical companies spent $13.2 billion last year on promotional activities for doctors, more than $15,000 per physician. The survey found that 61% of physicians had received free meals, travel or tickets to events
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