STAT Plus: Seeking to battle high drug prices and the opioid crisis, two states ponder banning gifts to doctors
Over the past month, lawmakers in two states have introduced bills that would ban drug makers from giving most gifts to doctors, although they are responding to different hot-button issues that continue to vex Americans: the rising cost of prescription medicines and the ongoing opioid crisis.
In Michigan, state Rep. Douglas Wozniak, who sponsored the legislation, complained that drug prices have increased “astronomically” and there is a need to eliminate what he called “exorbitant incentives” that pharmaceutical companies are providing prescribers. His bill is part of a legislative package designed to hold all companies in the “supply chain” accountable for rising costs.
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