Data Released under Massachusetts Disclosure Law Governing Payments from Drug Companies to Health Care Providers

As reported in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts enacted a statute two years ago requiring any drug or medical device manufacturing company doing business in the state to report certain payments of $50 or more.  The state has just published a comprehensive online database that reports payments that these companies have made to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and others in the health care industry.  According to the story, “[t]he report lists $35.7 million in payments from hundreds of companies for the six months between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2009, for speaking, consulting, food, educational programs, marketing studies, and charitable donations.”  Of this sum, physicians received $16.4 million. The database reflects payments from 283 companies.  For more details about the law, visit the website of the Office of Health and Human Services.
 
JRB