Feds Warn of Drug Marketing Offenses

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Feds Warn of Drug Marketing Offenses

Tue Oct 1, 2:05 AM ET

By EMILY GERSEMA

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is proposing new guidelines that warn drug

companies not to offer incentives to health care professions in return for

promoting certain drugs.

Such incentives, the warning says, could be viewed as an illegal kickback

and violate fraud and abuse laws.

The draft of the guidelines was posted Monday on a Department of Health and

Human Services ( news - web sites) inspector general's Web site.

Janet Rehnquist, the department's inspector general, said in the draft that

the agency is concerned that the drug companies' marketing practices could

improperly inflate health care costs under the federal Medicare and Medicaid

programs.

Nearly 75 million elderly, disabled and poor people depend on those programs

for health care assistance.

The inspector general's guidelines do not have the force of law. But

manufacturers pay close attention to them, fearing that otherwise they might

face increased scrutiny and investigations.

Rehnquist listed several examples of marketing practices where drug

companies could be suspected of federal violations. Among them:

_ So-called " switching arrangements " where financial incentives are offered

to physicians to get them to switch patients from one drug to another.

_ Excessive payments, beyond the value of services, to advisers and

researchers who help conduct market research.

_ Payment to physicians and other health care workers of gifts such as

entertainment, travel, scholarships and other gratuities for promoting

certain drugs.

To determine what actions are proper, the agency recommended that drug

manufacturers use a voluntary marketing code that the Pharmaceutical

Research and Manufacturers of America developed in April.

The trade group's code outlines practices that sales representatives may use

when dealing with health care professionals.