"Disclosure isn't enough,'' "But it's a good first step." stated Minnesota State Senator John Marty when asked about his proposed changes to the current Minnesota Disclosure Law first adopted in 1993 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Senator Marty introduced the bill late in last year's legislative session, but it didn't advance beyond committee. He's well aware that similar legislation is pending before Congress, sponsored by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Herb Kohl, D-Wis., that would preempt state laws.
In addition to expanding the disclosure requirement to cover device manufacturers, the bill would require that the financial relationships be disclosed to patients, and it would ban gifts to doctors from device companies.
Senator Marty gave a few exceptions for doctors, clinic employees and their families, to receive free drug samples for uninsured or low-income patients; compensation for consulting services for "genuine clinical research" that does not exceed a standard hourly rate (I guess he wants’ to get in the rate setting business); and "reasonable" honoraria for those who appear at professional or educational conferences (more rate setting)
Minnesota has the largest concentration of medical device manufacturers in country and is home to Medtronic the largest in the world. Medtronic said in a prepared statement that it supports "federal and state efforts that bring an appropriate level of transparency around these [relationships.]"
"The Minnesota law in effect today was intended to address the pharmaceutical industry and does not take into account the unique nature of the medical device industry interactions with physicians, a critical element of ongoing innovation and patient safety," the company said.
Medtronic, as well as the Washington-based industry group AdvaMed, has supported the federal legislation. "A patchwork of state regulations will likely confuse the public and create unnecessarily burdensome and costly requirements for companies that offer medical treatments for patients in multiple states," Tom Tremble, AdvaMed associate vice president for government and regional affairs, said in a prepared statement.
States like Minnesota, which already have laws should be mindful of the changes in Washington, and how their proposed laws if adopted in a patchwork mentality can negatively affect important local industries and the jobs they provide.