MOUNT CLEMENS – In a move to protect consumers, Macomb County House Democrats today announced a plan to compel drug companies to fully disclose how they spend their marketing money, which they are not currently required to reveal, and ban lavish gifts to doctors, such as extravagant trips and meals.
"When drug companies pour staggering sums of money into marketing, our patients are put at risk and that's wrong," Rep. Fred Miller (D-Mount Clements) said. "Drug companies should spend their big bucks on making drugs safer for consumers, not on expensive TV ads and outrageous gifts for doctors. Consumers in Macomb County deserve to know that the medical prescription they get is based on solid science and untainted by a free trip to a fancy resort."
The House Democrats' plan:
· Requires companies to report all drug advertising and marketing expenditures, including gifts to doctors and other health care workers;
· Requires companies to report research and development expenditures; and
· Bans lavish drug company gifts to doctors and limits gifts to $100 a year.
Big drug companies are spending more money on advertising and marketing than on research and development. In 2004, for example, industry leader Pfizer spent nearly $17 billion on marketing and $7 billion on research, the Center for Public Integrity said in a 2005 report. About 90 percent of the industry's $21-billion total annual marketing budget is directed at doctors, according to the Jan. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. A 2002 Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed that 61 percent of doctors were enticed with lavish meals and expensive trips to exotic locations.
As part of their marketing blitz, drug companies also send nearly 100,000 sales reps to sell new drugs to the nation's 600,000 doctors – without disclosing risks to the physicians.[1] The House Government Reform Committee found in 2005 that Merck deployed 3,000 sales reps to sell Vioxx while deflecting and dismissing doctors' concerns about risks as obstacles to be overcome.[2]
The Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Board of Internal Medicine is urging that drug companies be banned from giving gifts to doctors.
"The drug industry's marketing budget is going through the roof and it creates a dangerous conflict of interest that puts consumers at risk," said Rep. Steve Bieda (D-Warren), who has spearheaded ethics legislation in the House. "In light of the scandals involving Vioxx, Bextra and Rezulin – all drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration – it's even more important that we give consumers as much information so they can make better decisions about the prescription drugs they take."
Rep. Frank Accavitti (D-Eastpointe) said: "Vioxx was aggressively marketed in 2000, with Merck pouring $160 million into selling it. Today we know Vioxx injured and killed tens of thousands of people. We know Merck lied about its dangers. We need more sunshine on the drug industry's marketing practices."
The marketing and gifts disclosure would be posted on a searchable Web site, to be maintained by the Department of Community Health. Drug companies that fail to comply will be fined $10,000 a day. Companies that falsify reports will be fined up to $500,000.
The Democrats' plan allows free prescription drug samples to doctors.
"At a time when drug companies are spending more on marketing while the cost of prescription drugs is going through the roof, it's clear we must do more to rein in the drug industry's outrageous spending practices," Rep. Lisa Wojno (D-Warren) said. "We must shed more light on how the drug industry uses its big bucks to sway medical decisions and sell more drugs to consumers."
The Democrats' campaign is a continuation of their efforts to increase protections for consumers from dangerous drugs. Last year, they pushed proposals to lower prescription drugs through bulk buying and re-importation. They also want to repeal an unfair 1996 law that exempts drug companies from consumer protection laws and gives them total immunity even if their products injure and kill people.
In March, the Democrats announced a plan to force drug companies to reveal all test results for all drugs sold in Michigan, another salvo in their fight to further protect consumers from dangerous drugs. Drug companies are currently not required to reveal all test results – including negative ones – which keep valuable and potentially life-saving information hidden from consumers.
In the most recent case of the drug industry deceiving doctors and patients, Merck & Co. was found liable on Wednesday for the heart attack of a New Jersey man who took Vioxx for four years. New Jersey jurors said Merck lied to patients and doctors about the grave dangers of Vioxx, such as stroke and heart attacks. In Aug. 19, 2005, Merck was found liable for the death of an otherwise healthy Texas man who took Vioxx for eight months. Another Texas case involving Vioxx is ongoing.
The Democrats' campaign comes in the wake of a mailing blitz from the drug industry smearing Michigan legislators from both parties who want to repeal a one-of-its-kind state law that exempts drug companies from consumer protection laws and gives them absolute immunity even when their products harm and kill people. The law was signed in 1996 by then-Gov. John Engler.