Lack Of Context In CMS’s Sunshine Data Threatens Health Care Innovation
Washington, DC, September 30, 2014 – Today, Jim Greenwood, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), issued the following statement in response to the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments release and the Sunshine Act:
“BIO and our members support transparency in the life science industry and in the relationships between industry and physicians. We also strongly believe in the value such relationships bring to the patients we commit together to serve. Relationships between U.S. physicians and the life sciences industry benefit patients by fostering innovation and collaboration in the R&D process, and by helping health care providers stay up to date on critical medical information, such as cutting-edge new biologics approved by the FDA, new uses of existing medicines, the latest clinical data and safety information.
“To comply with the Sunshine Act, BIO’s members, many of them small companies just bringing their first product to market, have spent time and money that otherwise would have been spent in search of the next life-saving innovation or cure.
“That is why it is disappointing that CMS failed to provide the necessary context about these disclosures – and how they should be read. We are very concerned that some third parties will attempt to misuse the data, potentially threatening innovation in our nation’s health care system. We will work with CMS and others to ensure an appropriate context is quickly provided in order to avoid this harmful result.”
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