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MRA Action Safeguards Pharma Incentives
In New Mexico, USA, lobbying by research association MRA has helped to defeat a bill in the State Senate which the association says 'would have crippled research with physicians'.
The bill would have required the public reporting of incentives paid to health care professionals for participation in marketing research studies sponsored by pharmaceutical, medical device or medical supply manufacturers. Its aim was to restrict 'gifts' to physicians from these companies, which some legislators see in the light of bribes to favor their products.
Research incentives risked being caught up in this, 'inadvertantly' according to MRA, whose State Legislative Director LaToya Lang comments: 'the only influence sought through these kinds of marketing research incentives is to influence a difficult to reach but highly important audience of respondents to participate in research.'
After MRA contact with legislators the bill, known as S.B. 99, was defeated on the floor of the state Senate by a vote of 24 - 16. If passed, it would have required survey and opinion researchers to publicly report the amount they expend on physician incentives above $25.00. It did not specify whether the information required should identify individual physicians, but in states where the requirement for aggregate reporting has been introduced, this has been enough to deter pharmaceutical clients from doing 'almost any research with doctors', according to the association.
Applauding the conclusion of the State Senate, Lang says MRA 'will continue to aggressively confront legislation like S.B. 99 across the country that threatens the viability of marketing research.'
Web site: www.mra-net.org .
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