Developing the Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

On June 11, 2001, the OIG published a solicitation notice seeking information and recommendations for developing compliance program guidance for the pharmaceutical industry (66 FR 31246). In response to that solicitation notice, the OIG received eight comments from various outside sources. We carefully considered those comments, as well as previous OIG publications, such as other compliance program guidances and Special Fraud Alerts. In addition, we have taken into account past and ongoing fraud investigations conducted by the OIG’s Office of Investigations and the Department of Justice, and have consulted with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration). In an effort to ensure that all parties had a reasonable opportunity to provide input into a final product, draft compliance program guidance for the pharmaceutical industry was published in the Federal Register on October 3, 2002 (67 FR 62057) for further comments and recommendations.