what the experts are saying

"my investigation of gpo abuses and irregularities was spurred by credible and now well-documented reports of gpo misuse of their purchasing power and the member hospitals’ failures to accurately account for gpo revenues. evidence from my investigation, and yours, supports aggressive congressional action addressing such anti-consumer abuses.”
--senate testimony of connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal, march 15, 2006.

“it seems to me that just paying out for a service is the american way isn’t it? i mean, paying directly for a service is sort of what we do everyday. if i want to buy something, i pay for it. this kind of backdoor payment is not really the way we do things in this country, is it?”
--senator mike dewine (r-oh), chairman of the senate judiciary subcommittee on antritrust, competition policy and consumer rights, questioning a hospital ceo during the march 15, 2006 hearing.

“but too often it seems gpos have failed to serve as honest brokers seeking to serve the best interests of hospitals and patients.”
--opening statement of senator herb kohl (d-wi), ranking member of the senate judiciary subcommittee on antritrust, competition policy and consumer rights,april 30, 2002.

senator patrick j. leahy, democrat of vermont, said hospitals, not suppliers, should pay for buying groups. ‘the hospitals are going to be even more attentive to how they’re performing,’ he said. ‘because, after all, they’re paying for it.’”
--new york times march 4, 2002

“but the real problem is that gpos have morphed from collective purchasing agents for hospitals into profit-making organizations eager to make deals with suppliers. as long as they’re allowed to accept any kickbacks from wealthy manufacturers, more masimos are bound to get frozen out of the marketplace — and the ones who suffer will be the patients.”
--mike hiltzik, pulitzer prize winning reporter, los angles times, april 14, 2005.

"'it’s just like payola,' said paul lombardi, head of contracts for the swedish medical center in seattle. buying groups are 'getting paid' to buy certain products, said mr. lombardi, whose hospital system dropped premier in 1996."
--new york times march 4, 2002

“i do not believe that we can even begin to talk seriously about a gpo initiative until we have realigned these financial incentives so that the hospitals, and not the vendors, are once again the gpos' only clients. as long as vendors continue to pay fees to the gpos, any attempt to create, implement and enforce a code of conduct is doomed to failure.”
--senate testimony of dr. s. prakash sethi, university distinguished professor of management and president of the international center for corporate accountability (icca), zicklin school of business, baruch college, the city university of new york, march 15, 2006