FiDA
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Posted: October 2, 2014 - 1:45 pm ET
Device maker payments to providers
Aug. 1, 2013-Dec. 31, 2013
Device maker
|
Payment
|
Zimmer*
|
$17,428,680.83
|
Medtronic*
|
$13,024,707.80
|
Boston Scientific
Corp.*
|
$8,882,851.72
|
Stryker Corp.
|
$8,742,778.75
|
Intuitive Surgical
|
$8,638,153.40
|
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Five prominent medical-device makers gave a total of $56.7
million to doctors and teaching hospitals from Aug. 1-Dec. 31, 2013, for
research and general purposes, according to a Modern Healthcare analysis of
data posted on the new Open Payments website.
Leading the list of devicemakers is Warsaw,
Ind.-based Zimmer, which gave $17.4 million, followed by
Minneapolis-based Medtronic, which gave $13 million. Medtronic
competitor Boston Scientific gave $8.8 million.
Competition among devicemakers has been intense,
and the companies have been pursuing mergers and acquisitions and new contract models
with providers, which view high-cost supplies as an area to cut
costs. Zimmer, which makes orthopedic reconstructive, spinal and trauma
devices, dental implants and related surgical products, is pursuing a $13.35 billion
acquisition of competing orthopedic manufacturer Biomet. Medtronic
announced plans to buy surgical supplier Covidien for $42.9 billion as the sector continues to consolidate.
The data were published on the Open Payments website, which was required by
the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, a provision of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care.
*Zimmer recently purchased Biomet: the only manufacturer that provided patients a warranty on
product.
*Medtronics will
avoid paying U.S. taxes, as it employed ‘inversion’ to acquire a foreign
company and claim that as its corporate headquarters.
*see FiDA post on Salazar v Boston Scientific Obtryx surgical
mesh 73M verdict: the company
executives were aware of the irreversible, permanent, catastrophic harm and the
MSDS stating that pp mesh product should not be implanted in humans and did not
inform the implanting surgeons and patients.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 30, 2014 LA Times
Opening the book on long-hidden industry
relationships, the federal government revealed nearly $3.5 billion worth
of payments and other ties that U.S. doctors and teaching hospitals have with
drug and medical-device companies.
These financial details, published
Tuesday under a requirement in the federal health law, have been sought for
years by patient advocates and lawmakers from both political parties concerned
about conflicts of interest in the medical profession.
Initially, the new federal website includes 4.4 million payments made during the last
five months of 2013. More data will be published next summer.
Database
Officials said the data cover
financial transactions involving about 546,000 physicians and 1,360 teaching
hospitals across the country.
Consumer advocates hope the
increased disclosure will ultimately
help curb unethical practices by some doctors who prescribe medications and
devices after receiving large sums from manufacturers, possibly putting patient
care at risk.
Physicians and academic medical
centers defend industry collaboration as essential to advance research into
life-saving treatments. They have also questioned the accuracy of the
government data.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act
was included in the Affordable Care Act that President Obama signed in 2010
amid growing demands for more openness in the U.S. healthcare system, which
historically has shielded doctors, hospitals and other medical providers from
much public scrutiny.
“The Sunshine Act is a watershed
moment,” said Susan Chimonas, associate director of research at Columbia
University's Center on Medicine as a Profession. “It’s a tantalizing first look
at what kind of industry ties doctors have.”
In the last several years, the
Obama administration has published data on how much hospitals charge for
medical procedures and how much the massive federal Medicare program pays
individual physicians.
At the same time, hospitals,
nursing homes and others are being required to report an increasing number of
quality measures to the federal government, which posts the data on a public
website.
These industry payments have long
been a target for patient advocates concerned about the huge sums companies
expend to woo physicians with speaking fees, luxury trips and meals.
“It’s a widespread practice that
does influence the kind of care patients get,” said Lisa McGiffert, manager of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient
Project in San Francisco. “This exposure will require everybody to talk
about something that’s been underground.”
In one national survey, nearly 30%
of doctors said they received money for consulting, giving lectures or
enrolling patients in clinical trials.
Medical groups have cautioned that
the data on payments risk jeopardizing crucial collaborations that have helped
foster medical breakthroughs that benefit patients.
“If the information made available
to the public involves dollar amounts without full context, it can lead to
gotcha-style news stories and healthcare providers facing the presumption of
ethical wrongdoing even when they have done nothing wrong and their work is
benefiting patients,” said Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership
Council, an association of medical industry leaders.
Major medical societies, including
the American Medical Assn.,
have expressed concerns about the increased disclosures about physicians, often complaining that
the data are not always correct.
In advance of the release of the
new payment data, medical groups renewed their complaints that physicians had
not been given adequate opportunity to review the information before it was
published.
Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, a deputy
administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said the new
database "does not
identify which financial relationships are beneficial and which could cause
conflicts of interest. It simply makes the data available to the public."
The government website details a
wide range of payments and financial information, from consulting fees, meals
and travel expenses to physician
ownership stakes in medical companies.
But the Obama administration said
about 40% of the records published Tuesday don't include physician names
because officials are still working to confirm the accuracy of the payouts. An additional 199,000 records
are being withheld for now because they are either exempt from the reporting
requirement or under dispute, federal officials said.
The law requires medical companies
to report payments and gifts to physicians that exceed $10.
U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) authored the Sunshine Act after
numerous investigations into conflicts of interest among physicians. He said
the rollout may be rocky but the data will eventually become a valuable
resource for consumers, insurers and taxpayers.
"It should empower consumers
to learn whether their doctors take payments and if so, why and whether that
matters to them," Grassley said.
Twitter: @chadterhune @noamlevey
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