December 29, 2008 - Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said last week it will voluntarily disclose financial relationships with U.S. physicians starting in 2009.
Edwards plans to begin posting on a page on its Web site its financial relationships with physicians who receive $5,000 or more a year in consulting fees, royalties or honoraria from Edwards. The company will begin targeted tracking of this data on Jan. 1 and will publish it annually beginning in the second half of 2009.
“We’ve been supportive of federal legislation that would require all companies to disclose this information,” said Michael Mussallem, Edwards' chairman and CEO. “As we build the systems to improve tracking and reporting of this kind of information, we anticipate implementing an even more comprehensive disclosure policy in future years. In the meantime, we hope that launching this voluntary program in advance of a federal mandate can help inform the debate as we learn from our experience.”
For more information: www.edwards.com