Jan. 8, 2018 – The New Jersey ban on “gifts” from the pharmaceutical industry, an administrative action finalized on Dec. 22, 2017, will go into effect on Jan. 15 of this year and will be “the first of its kind for any state” to link compliance with physician licensure and apply to physicians, not the industry, according to an article posted in Policy and Medicine last week.

“Although we are disappointed that the regulation was adopted despite uniform industry and professional opposition, we note one good revision,” said Coalition for Healthcare Communication Executive Director John Kamp. “The definition of education allowed under the rule includes promotional education. That enables some FDA-regulated professional education, even though the $15 limit on food remains.”

Policy and Medicine states that under the N.J. regulation, “all contracts and payments entered into by physicians directly with the pharmaceutical industry will be subject to a $10,000 total yearly cap for New Jersey physicians with all pharmaceutical companies. This includes payments from industry for consulting and speaking but exempts research and education related payments.” Further, physicians will be subject to a $15 cap for meals.

The in-depth article outlines original legislation introduced in October 2017, highlights the key provisions in the current administrative action, and discusses how comments on the original legislation were addressed in the final regulations. To read the full article, go to: http://www.policymed.com/2018/01/new-jersey-finalizes-gift-ban-on-doctors-and-pharma.html