You always see those commercials on television advertising for a new toothpaste or medicine and at the end there is a doctor endorsing it, well now those companies are being asked to share how much money they spend on those doctors endorsements. Not only for endorsements, but also for research, consulting, speaking, and traveling. The reason for this is because the government wants the patient to benefit from the medicine and not the doctors. According to this article, "about a quarter of doctors take cash payments from drug or device makers and that nearly two-thirds accept routine gifts of food, including lunch for staff members and dinner for themselves" (Pear). NOw, if one company has a product covered by Medicare or Medicaid they are legally obligated to share this information.
Writer, Robert Pear, is a concerned consumer and wrote this article for the people who buy prescriptions. I think that it will be extremely beneficial for this to happen because now we can see what doctor is actually approving medicine for the right reasons. I am surprised that this did not happen sooner because now more than ever the economy is very competitive and everybody wants to be better than the next guy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/health/policy/us-to-tell-drug-makers-to-disclose-payments-to-doctors.html?src=mv&ref=general
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