Senate revises drugmaker gift bill

Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A revised Senate bill would require drugmakers and medical devicemakers to publicly report gifts over $500 a year to doctors, watering down the standard set in a previous version.

The new language of the Senate bill was endorsed by Eli Lilly and Co., maker of impotence drug Cialis and schizophrenia drug Zyprexa. Lawmakers said they hope the support will spur other companies to back the bill, which had previously required all gifts valued over $25 be reported.

Lavish gifts to doctors from industry -- ranging from golf vacations to pricey dinners -- have come under fire from lawmakers for influencing doctors' prescribing habits. The industry says such gestures are part of its doctor education, but critics say they taint independent decision-making.

"Transparency brings about accountability and benefits everyone, consumers most of all," Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in a statement. Grassley is sponsoring the bill with Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.

"We applaud Eli Lilly for endorsing transparency and hope the rest of the pharmaceutical industry follows their lead," Kohl said.

But some consumer groups lamented the changes.

"It is absolutely unacceptable. The whole idea of the registry is it provides a gift by gift annotation," said Peter Lurie, deputy director of Public Citizen's health research unit, who testified at an earlier hearing on the topic.

Penalties for drug and devicemakers in the revised bill were reduced to fines of between $1,000 and $50,000 for each violation, according both Senate offices. The earlier proposal, released last year, set penalties from $10,000 to $100,000 per infraction.