Two U.S. senators probe drugmaker grants

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Two U.S. senators probe drugmaker grants

 

Fri Jun 10, 5:51 PM ET

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators said on Friday they were

concerned drugmakers were using educational grants to U.S. states and

others as promotional tools and asked about two dozen companies to

explain the practice.

 

 

Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), an Iowa Republican,

and Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record), a Montana Democrat,

said they wanted to make sure the grants were not a " backdoor way to

funnel money to doctors and other individuals who can influence

prescribing and purchasing of particular prescription medicines. "

 

Grassley chairs the Senate Finance Committee, and Baucus is the

committee's highest-ranking Democrat.

 

In a letter to the drugmakers, the senators asked the firms to explain

their policies for awarding grants, detail how much they spend and

state whether any money is meant to promote medicines for unapproved,

or " off-label, " uses. They asked the firms to provide the information

by June 30.

 

Grassley and Baucus said they were concerned about the impact of drug

company marketing on the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance

programs. Federal spending on prescription drugs for both programs is

expected to cost $100 billion in 2006.

 

" Marketing practices that increase the rates at which drugs are

prescribed, particularly for off-label uses, are of concern because

they have the potential to increase program costs and may encourage

the use of typically newer, more expensive drugs that have not been

proven superior to existing treatments, " the senators wrote.

 

The letter was sent to top companies, including Pfizer Inc.,

GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co. Inc. .

 

Merck will provide " appropriate information " to the committee about

its educational grants, company spokesman Chris Loder said. He said

Merck's grants were compliant with laws governing medical education,

as well as guidelines set by the industry and the federal government.

 

" Merck firmly believes that such education provides value to

health-care professionals that may improve the practice of medicine

and, therefore, patient outcomes, " Loder said.

 

Officials at other companies that received the committee's request

were not available for comment.