Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Vermont Gift Ban and Disclosure Law Update

This report outlines the number of samples and expenditures, listed by manufacturer.
2014 Reports Due April 1, 2015
As a reminder, 2014 disclosures for expenditures and samples from January 1 – December 31, 2014 are due by April 1, 2015, using the following documents:  2014 Expenditures Disclosure Form and 2014 Samples Disclosure Form
Vermont’s Prescribed Products Gift Ban and Disclosure Law
As a background, Vermont law bans most gifts and requires manufacturers of prescribed products, including pharmaceuticals, biological products, and medical devices, to “disclose allowable expenditures and permitted gifts given to Vermont healthcare providers.” Vermont law also requires manufacturers to disclose the distribution of samples of prescribed products to Vermont HCPs. Under Vermont law, a “sample” includes starter packs, coupons, and vouchers that enable an individual to receive a prescribed product free of charge or at a discounted price.
Starting on page 6 of this document, Vermont walks through a variety of transactions that are banned or, if they are allowed, then if those transactions must be reported. 
With the advent of Federal Sunshine Act reporting, some of Vermont’s disclosure requirements became preempted. The Attorney General’s Office notes that “while the gift ban and samples reporting are not affected, Vermont may not require manufacturers to disclose those allowable expenditures and permitted gifts which are required...

Source: Policy and Medicine - February 25, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs