Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Richard Blumenthal are the co-sponsors of legislation to apply Physician Payments Sunshine Act disclosure requirements of drug company payments to doctors to nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Their bill came after a number of incidents involving questionable, dangerous prescribing practices by several such medical practitioners. This week, a drug company sales representative admitted to a kickback scheme related to fentanyl prescriptions, including targeting an advanced practice registered nurse and a physician’s assistant. A new report today from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General on the prevalence of opioid use among Medicare Part D beneficiaries notes: “Nurse practitioners and physician assistants make up one-third of the prescribers with questionable prescribing patterns for beneficiaries at serious risk.” Grassley and Blumenthal made the following comment.
“The report shows that opioids are commonly prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries, and some of those beneficiaries are at serious risk. That one-third of the questionable prescribers are nurse practitioners and physician assistants is a wake-up call. The finding is further indication that more oversight of these prescribers is needed. Our bill would shine a light on how much drug companies and medical device makers give payments to those who might prescribe medicine but fly under the radar on oversight. With powerful opioids in one-third of Medicare Part D beneficiary households, and the dangers these drugs present, we can’t afford to overlook any problem area.”
