US government takes steps to expose financial ties between drugmakers and doctors

After more than a year of prodding from the Senate Special Committee on Aging, the USA’s federal government took a major step today aimed at exposing potential conflicts of interests between doctors and drug companies.

The long-awaited rule – drawn from the Physician Payments Sunshine Act - was released late last Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The rule puts in place a system requiring pharmaceutical and medical device makers to disclose payments and gifts given to physicians. Consumers will have access to the information through a database administered by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Critics have long contended that the drug industry's practice of paying doctors influences medical decisions and leads to over-prescribing medicines and patients receiving unnecessary and expensive drug treatments. Former Aging Committee chairman Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley are credited for taking steps to get the disclosure requirements included in the Affordable Care Act.