Grassley looks into whether a Medical device maker is bribing doctors. Will Medtronic's political activity go up? Will there be anything resembling panic in the industry? stay tuned?
Senator Is Investigating Medtronic Marketing Practices
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to devicemaker Medtronic last month saying he is disturbed by allegations that the firm pays doctors “exorbitant amounts of money to encourage the use and promotion of its products.”
The letter referenced an article by The New York Times alleging that Medtronic Sofamor Danek (MSD), a spinal device company, paid a surgeon $400,000 a year for a consulting contract requiring only eight days of annual work.
Tens of millions of dollars a year appears to be paid to doctors through consulting contracts, speaker’s fees and international travel, Grassley said. According to the newspaper reports, these doctors are using Medtronic devices and sometimes promoting the off-label use of the products, he added.
http://fdanews.com/newsletter/article?issueId=10801&articleId=99214
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment