When we talk about lessons learned, today’s health care reform efforts are often held up to the measuring stick of President Bill Clinton’s failed health reform proposal in 1993. But an earlier national reform experience—President Richard Nixon’s attempts

Throughout the reform debate, a constellation of key issues—financing, affordability and the inclusion and design of a public insurance option—have been key focal points of discussion.  Now, as reform inches closer to the finish line, another set of issue

Will CME providers be included in the Sunshine provisions of health care reform? The Wall Street Journal looked at the question recently. The final House health reform bill includes CME providers and other third-party medical groups among the covered reci

Pew Prescription Project Director Allan Coukell addressed the FDA this morning as part a two-day public hearing on the promotion of drugs and devices on the internet and social media. The agency is seeking public input on how pharmaceutical and medical de

Medical device maker Boston Scientific is under investigation for its payments to doctors -- and for payments to charities with whom those doctors and their families are affiliated. The company reported in an SEC filing that it has received subpoenas for

On Saturday night, history knocked on the door of the U.S. House of Representatives and, by a slim margin, they agreed to answer. Two-hundred nineteen Democrats and one Republican, two more than the bare minimum needed for passage, voted in favor of the A

At the last possible moment, House Republicans have unveiled their alternative health reform package. The proposal is a jumble of old ideas that does next to nothing to address the rising numbers of uninsured, provide health security to middle-income fami

We've been hearing a lot about how pharma companies are curbing their spending on speakers bureaus, the practice of companies paying physicians to give drug-geared talks to other physicians.  Just this week, Pharmalot reported on a survey that showed 71 p

Two stories in the New York Times today look at the payments made to physicians by the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, and what provisions in the health care reform bills might do to illuminate those ties.  The Times notes AdvaMed’s support fo