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David Ferrera and Dawn Curry, partners in the firm’s Product Liability practice group, published “Managing Physician-Company Conflict of Interest” in the August 2011 issue of the Defense Research Institute’s (DRI) For the Defense magazine. The article discusses how the need to justify medical care as cost effective raises concerns about how physician-company relationships may affect approvals of certain drugs and devices. Pharmaceutical and medical device companies cannot exist without physicians to prescribe their products, but what happens when an intermediary becomes a collaborator?

David and Dawn note the law of conflict of interest as it affects drug and medical device companies and physicians spans multiple practice areas that clients and counsel alike should understand to ensure a uniform approach to business and litigation decisions. Actions by Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice, several state legislatures and attorneys general, and civil courts have all contributed to a new legal framework governing financial relationships between physicians and drug and medical device companies. As the legal framework unfolds, physicians and drug and medical device companies can expect to face heightened scrutiny and increased risks of civil and criminal legal actions.

To view the article, click here.