States Look to Limit Drug Company Gifts to Doctors, March 2008
Pharmaceutical companies spend an estimated $30 billion annually marketing their products, around $7 billion of which is aimed directly at doctors. To date, only a handful of states require drug makers to reveal how much in gifts, meals, travel and other valuable perks they dole out directly to the medical personnel on the receiving end of that largess. But that could soon change, as more than a dozen states are now considering measures to force drug companies to publicly disclose the freebies they give to doctors each year. [click title to continue reading]