US drugmakers opt for disclosure of grants

US drugmakers and medical device manufacturers have caved in to demands for the public disclosure of grants to outside groups, such as the sponsorship of educational conferences for physicians and consulting fees. Senator Charles Grassley (Republican, Iowa), the Ranking Member on the Senate's Finance Committee, had written to 15 firms, asking if they would follow US drug major Eli Lilly in adopting a full-disclosure policy (Marketletter May 14, 2007). The area of greatest interest to Sen Grassley was the funding of physicians' retraining, a requirement for health care professionals to keep their licences.

Of the companies contacted by the Iowa Senator, 12 responded with offers to put the information on their web sites. In some cases, drugmakers went beyond Sen Grassley's request. Some firms said they would include figures for all payments to patient groups, such as the American Heart Association. Massachusetts-based medical device specialist Boston Scientific is planning to disclose some payments to physicians, the Associated Press reports.

One question is whether this policy will be adopted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), or left up to individual firms to decide. The drug industry has been at pains to demonstrate its willingness to clamp down on any potentially abusive use of physician payments and gifts. Existing PhRMA rules, for instance, prohibit gifts to physicians with a value greater than $100 (Marketletter April 14).