Schwitzer health news blog

Pharma's so-called "educational" grants

A Senate Finance Committee investigation into educational grants awarded by pharmaceutical companies to physicians and groups that promote medications for unapproved uses has found the "payments are growing rapidly," the New York Times reports - now almost $1.5 billion a year.

"It's hard to see how you could call some of these grants 'educational,'" committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), ranking member of the committee, added, "If drug companies are crossing the line with these grants and influencing providers to make treatment decisions they might not otherwise make, that's a problem, and we're going to tackle that."

The Times reports that FDA regulations have "long allowed drug companies to give educational grants to individuals or groups that discuss or promote off-label uses." But feds "have been investigating whether these activities have strayed beyond educational purposes and violated antikickback statutes or resulted in the government's spending money in its Medicare and Medicaid health programs for prescriptions that were not warranted." The Times reports that more than half of all prescriptions written nationwide are for off-label uses.