Prometheus 6

Lobbying on all sides has been intense. The New England Promotional Products Association even punctuated its appeal to lawmakers with a gift.

"We don't feel making a pen or coffee mug illegal is going to accomplish their goals," said Stephen Monahan, the products association's president.

The mugs handed out to Massachusetts lawmakers, he said, were not intended to influence their opinions, just to remind them that more than 3,500 of the association's members are Massachusetts voters who depend on this industry for a livelihood.

I feel your pain, but the fact that Big Pharma is modifying their voluntary code means they know their ass is exposed. And we know that voluntary code will go right out the window as soon as it impinges on profitability...which is to say, no more than 48 hours after its announcement. After all, there's no penalty for ignoring a voluntary measure.

I'm hoping we can toss voluntary "regulation" on E.J. Dionne's pile of collapsed conservative concepts.

Drug industry tightens rules on gift-giving
Trade group is opposing Mass. effort to ban practice
By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff  |  July 11, 2008

The trade association for drug companies announced yesterday a tightening of its voluntary code restricting industry gifts to doctors, even as the association has been forcefully lobbying against a tougher ban that is likely to be debated in the Massachusetts House next week.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said its guidelines prohibit drug company sales representatives from handing out pens, mugs, and other tokens emblazoned with company or product logos, and also disallow restaurant meals. But the rules still allow salespeople to cater free lunches in doctors' offices and hospitals, which they use to get access to doctors and make their sales pitches. Companies would still be able to pay doctors consulting and speaking fees, which industry critics say is the fastest-growing category of drug marketing. And the code relies on the industry to police itself.

The proposed state law, already unanimously ap proved in the Senate, would ban any gifts of value to doctors. That includes entertainment, meals, travel, and subscriptions. Drug and medical-device companies would have to report to the Department of Public Health any payments to doctors for speaking and consulting, and that information would be posted on the agency's website.

But heavy lobbying for and against the proposal from a wide spectrum of groups has led House leaders to take the unusual step of forming a five-member special committee to consider changes to the gift ban, which is one provision of a larger bill, sponsored by Senate President Therese Murray, intended to rein in healthcare costs.

PhRMA, the industry trade association, has submitted testimony opposing the state legislation, and lawmakers said they had been called by industry officials. A top executive for GlaxoSmithKline wrote Governor Deval Patrick and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, saying the company might reduce its investments in the state if the gift ban becomes law.

The Senate-passed gift ban has inflamed not only the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, but trade associations for restaurants and the companies that make the trinkets. Those organizations say their members could be out millions of dollars. Consumer groups have backed the ban, and doctors groups are divided on the issue. Lobbying on all sides has been intense. The New England Promotional Products Association even punctuated its appeal to lawmakers with a gift.

"We don't feel making a pen or coffee mug illegal is going to accomplish their goals," said Stephen Monahan, the products association's president.

The mugs handed out to Massachusetts lawmakers, he said, were not intended to influence their opinions, just to remind them that more than 3,500 of the association's members are Massachusetts voters who depend on this industry for a livelihood.