This fact sheet describes the policies enacted and answers common questions about the new Physician Payments Sunshine provisions in health care reform legislation.Full Story
Pew Prescription Project
Note: Pew's work on the safety of the drug supply is now located here.
Patients benefit when physicians and researchers collaborate with the private sector to advance the development of effective new drugs and medical devices. However, there is widespread concern that extensive financial relationships between providers and industry, particularly payments associated with product promotion, may unduly influence the care that patients receive.
As the Institute of Medicine has noted:
“Such conflicts of interest threaten the integrity of scientific investigations, the objectivity of professional education, the quality of patient care, and the public’s trust in medicine.”
Direct marketing by the pharmaceutical industry to medical professionals is estimated at $20 to $57 billion each year. A national survey published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 84 percent of doctors have some type of financial relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.
The Pew Prescription Project seeks to ensure transparency in physician-industry relationships and promotes policies to reduce or manage conflicts of interest that could affect patient care. Our efforts have supported the creation of new policies at medical schools, professional medical associations, and have successfully supported state and federal disclosure laws.
Current goals of the Pew Prescription Project include:
- Implementation of the Physician Payments Sunshine provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will improve transparency of financial relationships between physicians and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.
- Increasing the number of medical schools and teaching hospitals in the United States that have adopted effective written policies to foster a conflict-of-interest-free medical education environment.