Vermont Acts to Make Drug Makers’ Gifts Public

Published: May 19, 2009
Cracking down on medical industry payments to doctors, the Vermont legislature has passed a law requiring drug and device makers to publicly disclose all money given to physicians and other health care providers, naming names and listing dollar amounts.

The law, scheduled to take effect on July 1, is believed to be the most stringent state effort to regulate the marketing of medical products to doctors. It would also ban nearly all industry gifts, including meals, to doctors, nurses, medical staff, pharmacists, health plan administrators and health care facilities.

In practice, the new law would let Vermonters learn each year which doctors have been paid, and how much, by the makers of the brand-name drugs for which they wrote prescriptions — or how much money certain surgeons have received from the makers of the stents, pacemakers, artificial knees and such that the doctors implanted.

The action by Vermont has been watched around the country, as national legislators and medical groups look for links between industry marketing and health care costs.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/business/20vermont.html

is a pernicious one. I'm really loving our legislature. they're doing some good stuff this year. now if they can only override the guv's budget veto.