New England Journal of Medicine: Vermont gifts and disclosure law sets higher bar

06/11/2009

Vermont's newly strengthened gifts ban and disclosure law, signed June 8 by Gov. Jim Douglas, sets the bar higher for state laws that aim to regulate the relationship between drug companies and doctors, according to a Perspectives piece in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

"By enacting the strictest gift ban and disclosure law in the country, Vermont has raised the bar for voluntary and legislative reform efforts," writes Robert Steinbrook M.D.

The law, which prohibits prescription drug and devicemakers from giving physicians gifts, meals, and travel payments, requires that those payments allowed -- such as drug samples -- be disclosed on a publicly accessible website.  For more on the Vermont law, read PostScript.

The disclosure provisions in the new law are similar to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, a federal bill before Congress now.