Vermont law blocks survey incentives for healthcare providers
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US-- Vermont legislators passed tough new laws last night banning many gifts made by drugs companies to healthcare providers – including survey incentives.
The law doesn't specifically include survey incentives, however the scope of the definition of ‘marketing' is broad enough to encompass payments for participation in marketing research studies.
Certain gifts will still be allowed – limited to areas such as sponsorship of academic conferences, or expense reimbursement for participation in clinical trials – however full disclosure of these gifts is required.
LaToya Lang, the Marketing Research Association's (MRA) state legislative director, described the bill as a “precedent-setting piece of legislation” and “one of the most restrictive bills in the country as it applies to physicians' gifts”.
This is a view echoed by the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices (NLARx), who called the Vermont law the most “sweeping and comprehensive” of its kind.
NLARx executive director Sharon Treat said: “Vermont now joins Minnesota and Massachusetts in tackling head-on the pervasive influence of payments and gifts on medical practitioners through a ban on many gifts.”
Supporters of such laws argue that these bans will help to lower the costs of treatments, as doctors are not swayed to prescribe branded drugs over cheaper generic rivals.
Numerous states are considering similar legislation – either to prevent gifts or require their disclosure – and MRA is working to secure exemptions for the research industry in those instances.
The association says: “Such bills could severely hinder survey and opinion research with healthcare professionals, whose participation is often tied to sizeable research incentives, because of the high demands on and cost of their time.
As for the issue of influence, MRA says: “In most research, the participants – and often the interviewers – are unaware of who sponsored the study. Such masking protects the research from bias.”
Author: Brian Tarran
Related links:
MRA alarmed over disclosure rules in Massachusetts
States back down on incentive disclosures
