July 27, 2018 – The aggressive “gift ban” enacted by New Jersey regulators on Jan. 15 is subject to revisions under the administration of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, according to an article posted yesterday in Policy & Medicine, which states that a proposed rule enumerating the changes will be published on Aug. 6.

Policy & Medicine states that the first two pages of the proposal includes a letter in which the state attorney general “agreed that the $15.00 limit on meals is ‘unrealistic’ and ‘has served to stifle valuable education gatherings at which prescribers obtain scientific, evidence-based data and important information about developments concerning treatment options to address a variety of disease states.’”

In October of last year, Coalition for Healthcare Communication Executive Director John Kamp presented testimony to the New Jersey Office of Consumer Affairs, highlighting this concern and adding that the $15 meal limit and the ban’s restrictions on the number of meetings each prescriber can attend that are sponsored by a single company in a given year are not tenable.

“The limit on the number of meetings per company artificially limits large companies with multiple products while the $15 [meal] limit nearly eliminates the ability to hold such meetings in high-cost New Jersey,” Kamp stated.

Policy & Medicine states that the current “cap on meals for educational events would be eliminated altogether,” and although the breakfast and lunch meal amount would remain at $15 for promotional activities, the dinner limit would be raised to $30. To view Policy & Medicine’s detailed coverage of the gift ban, go to: https://bit.ly/2LXcZiD