The investigations aim to stop industry marketing tactics that benefit doctors but can endanger patients and raise healthcare costs. "What we need to do is make examples of a couple of doctors so that their colleagues see that this isn’t worth it," said Lewis Morris, chief counsel to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the Times article.
Doctors who are accused of taking kickbacks could face jail time, fines, temporary loss of their license and exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid programs. Over the past year, prosecutors have increased fines in plea bargains with drug and device manufacturers and have forced some of these companies to publicly disclose their payments to doctors.
Many doctors interviewed in the Times article, said that these measures will greatly change how the industry currently runs. Some fear that disclosure will tarnish their reputations, as disclosure leads the public to assume wrongdoing.
Ultimately, according to the article, health officials and prosecutors want to stop drug and device makers from breaking the law and are hoping that these new measures will accomplish that goal.
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