In what may be an effort to head off legislation, Zimmer announced new rules covering its relationships with docs, specifically, payments for consulting, gift giving and medical education funding. The move comes not long after
a Senate bill was introduced that would require drug and device makers to disclose anything of value given to docs and several months after Zimmer agreed to pay nearly $170 million to settle kickback charges filed by the federal government.The refined compliance model is designed to aggressively reduce potential or perceived conflicts of interest inherent in consulting relationships between the industry and healthcare professionals...The model includes fundamental changes in the areas of product development, marketing, surgeon training, educational and charitable funding, and transparency, Zimmer says in a statement.
For instance, there will be new internal firewalls to prevent sales, distribution and other marketing teams from having any involvement with physician consultant agreements, services or payments. And Zimmer is banning all gifts to healthcare professionals, prohibiting Zimmer-sponsored healthcare professional presentations at medical society events, and will eliminate the use of quotations, endorsements, images and product-branding by healthcare professionals, other than scientific literature references. The device maker will also no longer use docs to train and educate on products for which they may receive royalty-based compensation connected to sales of the products.
“We have taken our obligations under these resolution agreements extremely seriously and have now embraced the opportunity to move beyond their requirements to create a more sustainable model for the growth of our business over the long-term,” Dave Dvorak, Zimmer's ceo, says in the statement.
Hat tip to the WSJ Health blog
6 Comments
And politians say other encouraging things similiar to this, and break thier commitments. What is done is more important that what is said. Get real- ethics over profit opportunities obtained by the wrong ways, and rationalizing thier actions as being innovative. New category in the next DSM: Corporate unreality or something, possibly.
Word, words, words...
In addition, I believe any corporation lacks the concept or the ability to demonstrate authentic ethical behavior and if it may somehow be attempted by them,likely the activity of a stance opposed to profit may nauseate them, so it would be short lived.
Good for Zimmer. Except that they and other device makers have been engaging in practices that make pharma companies look like saints.
1) It was time for device companies to get the attention they needed 2) These moves by Zimmer are good, but not that different or creative 3) When are doctors going to be on the hook?
Transparency and reducing ethical conflicts are great. But, what is needed is a substantial drop in price. In most other industries, product improvements lead to economy of scale and improved efficiency. Why not in implants? Because the companies are selling to the surgeon, and not the consumer. Is it not time that we engage the patient in the cost equation of what is going to be implanted in their body? We spend enough in health care, but not wisely. Make the market place work.
[...] Zimmer to launch new ethical marketing practices endeavor - In what may be an effort to head off legislation, Zimmer announced new rules covering its relationships with docs, specifically, payments for consulting, gift giving and medical education funding…more [...]