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Inside HIGPA hopes that everyone had a happy and safe holiday season. During the holidays, the Wall Street Journal ran a letter to the editor written by HIGPA President Curtis Rooney in response to a December 20 WSJ article titled “Top Spine Surgeons Reap Royalties, Medicare Bounty”.
Rooney’s letter points out the fact that the incentives and marketing tactics mentioned in the article are only “the tip of the iceberg”, and that medical device makers have gone even further by “exploiting contractual confidentiality agreements… to drive up costs of medical devices and decrease transparency.” These “gag clauses”, Rooney says, should be a key area of focus as all parties continue to explore ways to cut health care spending.