Before the Joint Committee on Public Health
October 4, 2011
In Support of related bills H 1504 and H 2903 An Act
Concerning Restaurant Rejuvenation and H 1507 An Act Related to
Improving Health Care Quality and Cost in the Medical Device
Industry
The Massachusetts Medical Society supports changes in the
current pharmaceutical gift ban which would be consistent with the
MMS policy on gifts from industry, which states in relevant
part:
"Any gifts accepted by physicians individually should primarily
entail a benefit to patients and should not be of substantial
value. Accordingly, textbooks, modest meals, and other gifts are
appropriate if they serve a genuine educational function."
The current ban allows modest meals in some settings but not all
settings and therefore we support efforts to allow meals to be
provided in restaurants, function rooms and other facilities in
conjunction with educational programs. The Department of Public
Health is under considerable pressure to meet public health needs
on a limited budget. Under these circumstances, provisions amending
the Department's responsibilities to accept and publish data under
the existing law warrant a review and cost benefit analysis or an
outright repeal as contained in Section 4.
In Opposition to H 1544 An Act Requiring Doctor Gratuity
Reporting
This legislation states the following:
"The board shall require as a condition of granting or renewing a
physicians certificate of registration, that the physician disclose
in writing each gift, benefit, gratuity, blandishment or incentive
of any kind received from any agent or manufacture of drugs,
pharmaceuticals or other medication, or from any agent or
manufacturer of any medical device, treatment or service that the
physician has or could provide to patients under his care. For each
gift, gratuity, blandishment, or incentive, the disclosure shall
include a description, the estimated cash value and the name and
company of the donor."
The MMS is strongly opposed to this legislation. Physicians
provide information to the Board of Registration in Medicine under
the pains and penalties of perjury. The current physician license
application is fifty pages long without attachments and
submissions. It covers every possible aspect of a physician's life
history, training, experience and career, including material to
demonstrate proof of having a good moral character.
This legislation has no limit on the amount of information to be
provided. Is this a lifetime list or for the two year's prior to
renewal? Physicians working in other states seeking to come to
Massachusetts cannot be reasonably expected to have detailed
records of every drug sample or educational pamphlet they may have
received at an educational program during the course of their
career or even the previous year. What is the Board of Registration
to do with this data? Are they expected to verify it the way they
do Medical School degrees, criminal histories or complaint
information in the National Practitioner Data Bank?
There is nothing in the experience of Massachusetts patients and
physicians that remotely warrants the massive imposition on the
time of physicians and the Board of Registration.
Why are physicians singled out? Why not reports of others who
prescribe? The legislature has expanded the authority of many
non-physicians to prescribe over the years. Are non-physicians
immune from the supposed influence of marketing?
Do we really want to make this reporting a condition of being a
licensed physician in this state? Do we really want to devote
resources to investigating such reports and revoking medical
licenses of those who fail to accurately report even trivial items
they may have received? The MMS urges the Committee to reject this
refiled legislation.
In Support of HB2359 An Act Relative to Prescription
Drug Waste and H 2364 An Act Providing for Unused Medication Return
by Health Care Facilities
The MMS is strongly supportive of measures that will allow the
Department of Public Health to set regulations to expand programs
to prevent waste of pharmaceutical products. There are cost savings
and patient convenience gains to be had through a program which
recognizes the importance of safe handling, storage, distribution
and assessment of such medications.
Bill Text for HB3602 (HD2916) of 2011-2012 Session
An Act Relative to Safe Disposal of Medical
Sharps
The Massachusetts Medical Society wishes to commend
Representative Dykema for her thoughtful and comprehensive approach
to the safe disposal of medical sharps. The MMS supports this
legislation and urges the Commonwealth to move forward in the
efforts to provide safe and public sites for the disposal of
medical sharps.
H 3364 An Act relative to Responsible Prescription
Prescribing
The Massachusetts Medical Society supports Representative
Golden's initiative to establish a broad based commission to look
at issues around prescription drug use. Massachusetts has
legislated a complex expansion of its prescription review program
and established new educational requirements for all prescribers.
Reports of prescription drug abuse and fatalities associated with
it raise serious issues. Crackdowns on rampant illegal prescribing
in Florida that flooded the nation with oxycontin were long
overdue. It is time for a comprehensive review of the
statistics and issues in Massachusetts to identify the problems
with prescription drug abuse in Massachusetts and to use the data
from our two decades of records on narcotics prescriptions to get
an overview of what is happening in Massachusetts and whether our
current approach is effective. The MMS would like to be included
among the participants in any commission that is created.
