Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Pete Stark (D-Calif.) have introduced a bill (HR 5605) that would require pharmaceutical medical device companies to disclose to the public any gifts or payments to physicians valued at $25 or more, CQ HealthBeat reports.

The legislation is a companion to a bill (S 2029) sponsored by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) (CQ HealthBeat, 3/14). Under the bill, companies with at least $100 million in annual revenue would be required each quarter to disclose gifts or payments exceeding $25 in value, and the information would then be posted on a Web site. Companies would have to disclose any gifts or payments made "directly, indirectly, through an agent, subsidiary or other third party." In addition, companies would have to disclose payments for continuing medical education programs (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/7/07).

In a statement, DeFazio and Stark said, "This bill will provide much needed transparency into the increasingly corrosive relationship between the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and American physicians." Consumers Union, the American Medical Student Association and the Medicare Rights Center support the House bill. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America President Ken Johnson said, "We believe that improving transparency in such interactions is a laudable but complex goal," adding, "Any steps toward transparency should be structured in a way that would not chill these important exchanges" (CQ HealthBeat, 3/14).