WILMINGTON, Del., May 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca (NYSE:
AZN) announced today that it supports the revised Physician Payment
Sunshine Act as part of the company's latest step to provide the public
with more information about the way it does business.
Sponsored by Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin,
the legislation would create a national registry of payments that
biopharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers and medical supply
companies make to medical organizations and health care providers.
"AstraZeneca believes that providing information to the public about
our company, our products and how we do business is integral to improving
patient health," said Tony Zook, President and CEO, AstraZeneca
Pharmaceuticals, LP, U.S. "We are pleased to support this legislation that
will create greater transparency around our relationships with physicians,
while helping the public understand how we work with health care
providers."
Zook praised Sens. Grassley and Kohl for their leadership on the
legislation -- and especially for creating a single uniform registry that
would capture payments made to physicians by biopharmaceutical companies,
device manufacturers and medical supply companies. "This is the best
approach to provide physician payment information to patients," Zook said.
AstraZeneca is proud that it improves patient health by helping ensure
physicians are knowledgeable about our products and patient assistance
programs, and by providing physicians with timely, relevant information
that enables them to make the best treatment decisions for their patients.
In supporting the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, AstraZeneca builds on
the transparency initiative it launched in March. AstraZeneca previously
announced it will publicly share additional or enhanced information about
its policy positions, political contributions, medical education grants,
contributions to nonprofit organizations, and post-marketing study
commitments, as well as making information on its compliance program and
clinical trials more visible on its Web site.
Beginning at various stages this year, elements of the company's
previously announced transparency initiative will be available at
AstraZeneca's U.S. Web site http://www.astrazeneca-us.com, in an effort to better
inform the public about how the company conducts its business and how it is
helping patients through research and support for external organizations.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
research, development, manufacturing and marketing of meaningful
prescription medicines and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is
one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales
of $29.55 billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular,
neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infectious disease medicines. In
the United States, AstraZeneca is a $13.35 billion healthcare business with
12,200 employees committed to improving people's lives. AstraZeneca is
listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the
FTSE4Good Index. For more information visit http://www.astrazeneca-us.com.
SOURCE AstraZeneca
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Related links:
http://www.astrazeneca-us.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/985887.html/
CONTACT:
Tony Jewell of AstraZeneca, +1-302-885-4594,
Tony.Jewell@AstraZeneca.com
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