NJ task force is assembled to examine physician gifts from drug companies

TRENTON, N.J. Attorney General Anne Milgram has assembled a task force to explore the issue of pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers giving gifts and other compensation to physicians and to determine if by doing this, what impact, if any, had on patient care in the state.

The task force, the Attorney General’s Advisory Task Force on Physician Compensation, includes state Department of Health and Senior Services commissioner Fred Jacobs, members of the State Board of Medical Examiners, practicing physicians, industry representatives and consumer advocates.

For the first time, this past summer, the State Board of Medical Examiners began asking New Jersey physicians whether they have accepted gifts or other benefits from medical device or pharmaceutical manufacturers.

“As regulators of health care professionals in New Jersey, we want to ensure that patient care is guided by the unbiased exercise of the physician’s best judgment,” Attorney General Milgram said.

The first meeting of the task force was Wednesday, Sept. 19.