FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2008
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AdvaMed Supports Revised Disclosure Legislation
Key Changes Made to S. 2029 Ensure Information is
Meaningful and in Appropriate Context
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) today expressed its support for the revised
Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2007 (S. 2029) sponsored by Senator Charles E. Grassley and Senator Herb Kohl.
“Physicians play a vital role in medical technology innovation, and their contribution, which leads to improved patient care, needs to be valued and understood,” said Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards Lifesciences' chairman and CEO and AdvaMed board chairman. “This revised legislation lays out a framework for the appropriate disclosure of financial relationships between physician innovators and the companies that make their vision a reality.”
“This bill is an important step forward in improving transparency and does so in a manner that does not jeopardize future innovation. That’s good news for patients, physicians and industry,” said Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of AdvaMed.
Continued innovation in healthcare is driven by the ability of America’s medical technology manufacturers to interact and work closely with physicians and other care providers. Their input often leads to significant product improvements and is critical to our industry’s iterative development process and improved patient care. It also is essential that physicians receive education and training to ensure that technologies are used safely and effectively.
“Preserving our member companies’ ability to interact in a collaborative, transparent and ethical manner is essential. We commend Senators Grassley and Kohl for their leadership and their staff for working with us in a deliberate and thoughtful manner. We look forward to continuing to work with them as this legislation moves forward,” Ubl said.
In February, AdvaMed put forth its suggested changes to S. 2029 which the association felt were important to ensuring that the information being disclosed was useful, meaningful and put in full context.
They included:
• Expressly preempting state disclosure laws to ensure consistency in application and patient understanding;
• Requiring compliance by physician-owned manufacturers, distributors and group purchasing organizations (GPOs); and
• Displaying disclosure information in a meaningful and easily understood format that provides the appropriate context for patient education.
“While AdvaMed is pleased with the direction this bill has taken, we believe it should address our concerns that many medical device companies are small businesses that may lack the resources to meet the administrative requirements set forth in the bill,” said Ubl.
“We appreciate the willingness of the Senate sponsors to consider our concerns on the original threshold based on annual revenues and will continue to work to adopt an alternative approach that would exempt companies that make payments to physicians of less than $250,000 annually,” said Ubl.
# # #AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. Our members produce nearly 90 percent of the health care technology purchased annually in the United States and more than 50 percent purchased annually around the world. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.