I think that you can trust it - what there is of it. It will probably take a few years before all the details show up, though.
The law that was passed in the U. S., for example, (The Physician Payments Sunshine Act), was apparently a part of the Health Care Reform Bill, but similar to many of the other parts of the bill, companies who make payments to physicians won't have to start keeping records of those payments, until 2012, and they won't have to report the information until March 31, 2013. Supposedly, it will be posted in a searchable database, starting on Sept. 30, 2013. According to the law, anything worth more than $10, must be reported, whether it be in the form of stock options, research grants, trinkets, consulting fees, travel fees, meals, hotel expenses, or whatever.
The senators who originally introduced the bill upon which the final bill was based, felt that physicians who receive benefits from drug companies and device manufacturers are more inclined to prescribe the priciest products. Prior to the enactment of the Federal law, several states had similar laws, (Vermont, Massachusetts and Minnesota), and since they originally passed the legislation, they have gone on to amend their laws to ban most gifts outright, (Vermont even bans gifts of meals), although Massachusetts and Minnesota still allow physicians to accept speaking fees, and most product samples. All three states allow corporations to award research grants to physicians, however.
Frankly, I wasn't even aware that it had been included in the Healthcare Reform Bill, until I looked it up, after reading the article at the link that you posted. As huge as the Reform Bill was, it will surely take many more years before we learn all the details about it.
Vermont's law has been in effect for quite a few years, (the reporting requirement there began in 2002), and their Attorney General recently released data that showed that total payments to physicians dropped 13 percent in fiscal 2009, (to $2.6 million), so maybe this will eventually trickle down as lower costs for consumers of medical care. I reckon we'll see what develops.
Thanks for posting that info.
Tex
