Life Sciences

Eli Lilly supports revised gift reporting bill

Pharma Compliance Alert, May 21, 2008

Eli Lilly is breaking ranks with other pharmaceutical companies—again.
 
Last year, Lilly became the first pharmaceutical company to publicly report its continuing education grants and charitable contributions. Last week, Lilly issued a press release in support of a revised version of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act.
 
The bill, (S. 2029) proposed by Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) last fall, would require pharmaceutical and medical device makers to report gifts to physicians. The bill will help pharmaceutical companies regain public trust and confidence regarding industry relationships with physicians, said John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly, in the company release.
 
The revised bill now includes pre-emption language, which means the federal law, if passed, would take precedence over individual state laws. 
 
Senators are also revising the gift giving limits in the bill, according to a Reuters article.  
 
Initially, companies would have been required to report any gift over $25. The revised bill would require companies to report gifts over $500 a year. Under the bill, all pharmaceutical and medical device companies would be required to submit an annual gift giving report that would be posted online. Previously, only companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue were required to report gifts.
 
The Senate also decreased the fines to between $1,000 and $50,000 for each violation. The original bill set penalties from $10,000 to $100,000 per infraction. The revised bill also pushes back the implementation date to March 31, 2011.

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