Herb Kohl

Doc disclosure gets boost from AZ, Merck

Tracy Staton — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:58:51 -0400

Drugmakers are climbing on the disclosure bandwagon. AstraZeneca and Merck have come out in favor of a bill requiring pharma and device-makers to report their payments to doctors, joining Eli Lilly, which gave the legislation a thumbs-up last week. Trade associations PhRMA (drugs) and Advamed (devices) have also expressed support.

The outpouring of support began after the bill's sponsors--Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Herb Kohl--bumped up the minimum disclosure amount to $500 from $25. It also helped that they added language specifically preempting state disclosure rules--now in force in Vermont and Minnesota, and on the drawing board elsewhere.

Interestingly, Schering-Plough isn't among those backing the bill. In fact, the company expressly denied its support in a letter to the sponsors. The reason? That information might undermine the relationship between patients and doctors, the company says. We'll see if it changes its tune: The letter said execs "remain open to new information or points of view."

- check out the release from the Senate Special Committee on Aging
- read the item at the WSJ Health Blog
- see Pharmalot's take

Senate probes Zetia schmooze plan

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

Earlier this week sales-rep forums were abuzz with a new promo push by Schering-Plough: The so-called 49 Plan, a seven-week wine-and-dine rush to turn the tide on Zetia. Scrips for the cholesterol med have dropped 17 percent since late last year and 3.8 percent year-over-year. That's after a controversial study showed that adding Zetia to now-generic Zocor--in the Merck/Schering-Plough med Vytorin--didn't forestall artery-clogging any better than Zocor alone.

The reps were skeptical; some at CafePharma even predicted that, without new positive data, a schmooze-fest would backfire. Well, it has certainly done that, though perhaps not in the way the sales folks expected. The Senate Special Committee on Aging is demanding documents about the plan from Schering-Plough. "I am troubled by any attempts to persuade physicians to prescribe a drug for any reason other than the patient's condition and the drug's effectiveness in treating it," wrote Sen. Herb Kohl, who chairs the committee. "Unfortunately, it appears that your '49 Plan' may do exactly that."

- read coverage at Pharmalot here and here
- check out the letter from Kohl

Related Articles:
Vytorin, Zetia scrips plummet. Report
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Vytorin study sidelined at ACC. Report
FDA to review Enhance study. Report

Sens. would dispatch pharma anti-reps

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

Should the feds send out their own pharma reps? Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Aging will convene to discuss "academic detailing," which is essentially a straight talk express for pharma. Special reps fan out with their own--presumably objective--educational materials to help counteract the naturally biased info each drug company provides on its own products. Some states are doing it with mixed results; some critics say these so-called straight talkers actually are trying to push generics over brand-name meds even when newer meds are better.

Sen. Herb Kohl, who chairs the committee, and Sen. Dick Durbin plan to sponsor a bill this spring that would create a federal corps of academic detailers. "The industry's educational outreach is essentially a marketing program, and evidence shows that doctors' prescribing patterns can be heavily influenced," the committee's statement about the hearing said. An academic detailing program would give docs and other prescribers a source of unbiased info "based on scientific research."

- see the Pharmalot item
- check out the back-story on Pennsylvania's academic detailing program

Related Articles:
States fight drug reps with reps. Report
Dr. Drug Rep tells all. Report
Rep decries off-label marketing "loophole." Report

Congress probes med device payments

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Should device makers retain surgeons as consultants? That's what the Senate Special Committee on Aging plans to discuss today at a hearing over some $221 million in payments five companies made to docs in 2007.

The companies--Zimmer Holdings, Biomet, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, and Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Orthopaedics--agreed to disclose those payments in September to settle government allegations that they violated anti-kickback laws. Four of the companies agreed to pay $310 million to settle kickback claims.

Sen. Herb Kohl, chair of the Senate committee, has proposed legislation that would mandate disclosure of the consulting payments.

- read the story in the Wall Street Journal

Related Articles:
Feds probe Medtronic payments to docs. Report
Medtronic's doc payments draw new fire. Report
Medtronic will settle accusations on kickbacks. Report

Pharma faces payment disclosure law

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Senator Charles Grassley said he would, and now he has: The Republican introduced a bill Thursday that would require drug and medical device makers to report almost every cent they pay to doctors. Each payment of more than $25 would have to be disclosed quarterly, and the data would be posted on a government website.

For several months now, news reports and Congressional hearings have been questioning the flow of dollars from drug makers to doctors--everything from free meals to speaking fees to consulting payments. Some doctors have reaped hundreds of thousands a year in such gifts or fees-for-services. The natural follow-up question--does it change doctors' behavior when they pick up their prescription pads?--has prompted much defensive denial, but it's also inspired fears of unnecessarily costly scrips and even patient harm.

Anticipating the outcry from pharma, Sen. Herb Kohl, the bill's co-sponsor, said that if companies have nothing to hide, then disclosure will only vindicate them. "Either way, patients win," he said.

- check out the release
- read the New York Times article

ALSO: Should drug and medical device makers be made to to report payments made to doctors? Poll

Related Articles:
Law would make pharmas reveal MD payments. Report
Psychiatrists getting largest pharma gifts. Report
NY bill would require pharmas to report MD gifts. Report
Doctors weigh in on pros, cons of accepting freebies. Letters
States tighten screws on pharma marketers. Report