Drug makers will have to report payments to doctors, nurses and other medical professionals.
Under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act of 2010) =drug and medical device manufacturers are required to report physician payment information to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Under the proposed ‘‘Substance Use–Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act’’, a bipartisan bill expected to reachTrump’s desk in the near future, that requirement will extend payments to nurses and other medical professionals.
The ‘‘SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act’’ is aimed at solving the opioid crisis. The provision that addresses financial disclosures is just one small part of the bill. In addition to payments to doctors, drug companies will now have to report payments to clinical nurses, physician assistants, anesthetists and nurse-midwives.
The provision was introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio in response to concerns that pharma companies were influencing medical professionals through gifting and payments.
There have also been allegations that pharmaceutical companies were offering kickbacks to both doctors and nurses to boost opioid prescriptions. Companies including Johnson & Johnson, Mylan, Depomed and Purdue Pharma have been involved in probes by public prosecutors or lawmakers. Under-the-tongue fentanyl spray SYBSYS producer Insys Therapeutics recently reached a $150 million agreement with the Department of Justice to settle accusations over its opioid off-label marketing.