Journal Reprints Shouldn’t See The Light Of Sunshine, Medical Societies Say-thegraysheet: Device and drug companies have been collecting physician payment data for the Sunshine Act since Aug. 1, but a coalition of medical societies is still hoping to exempt journal reprints from the reporting standards. The argument is mounted in an Oct. 28 letter (PDF) to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from 41 state medical boards and 33 medical associations, including the American Medical Association. The statute creating the Sunshine requirements specifically exempts “[e]ducational materials that directly benefit patients or are intended for patient use,” the medical groups note, yet CMS has “concluded that medical textbooks, reprints of peer reviewed scientific clinical journal articles and abstracts of these articles are ‘not directly beneficial to patients, nor are they intended for patient use.’”
