WILL PHARMA FINALLY HAVE TO FESS UP?

摘要

It's no secret that some drug companies pay for doctors to attend medical conferences in exotic locales. Others treat them to pricey meals and pass out pens and Post-it notes branded with product names. All told, drug and medical-device makers dole out an estimated $19 billion worth of gifts to physicians every year—a practice that worries New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, among others. On Sept. 19 she summoned a task force to consider putting limits on this orgy of gratuities. Although New Jersey wouldn't be the first state to pass laws, any action there would have a huge symbolic impact: The Garden State is home to many of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, including Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson.