September 2, 2021 - Introduced by Senators Erpenbach, Johnson, Agard, Bewley,
Carpenter, Larson, Pfaff and Ringhand, cosponsored by Representatives
Subeck, S. Rodriguez, Anderson, Baldeh, Cabral-Guevara, Cabrera,
Conley, Emerson, Hebl, Hesselbein, Hong, Milroy, L. Myers, Neubauer,
Ohnstad, Pope, Shankland, Shelton, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spreitzer, Stubbs
and Vruwink. Referred to Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry.

This bill requires a pharmaceutical representative to be licensed by the Office
of the Commissioner of Insurance and to display his or her license during each visit
with a health care professional. The bill defines “pharmaceutical representative” to
mean an individual who markets or promotes pharmaceuticals to health care
professionals on behalf of a pharmaceutical manufacturer for compensation.

Under the bill, the license must be annually renewed. The application to obtain
or renew a license must include the applicant's contact information, a description of
the type of work in which he or she will engage, an attestation that the professional
education requirements are met, the license fee, proof that any penalties and other
fees are paid, and any other information required by OCI. Under the bill, the license
fee is set by the commissioner. The bill requires the pharmaceutical representative
to report, within four business days, any change to the information provided on the
application or any material change to his or her business operations or other
information required to be reported under the bill.

The bill requires that a pharmaceutical representative complete a professional
education course prior to becoming licensed and to annually complete at least five
hours of continuing professional education. The coursework must include, at a
minimum, training in ethical standards, whistleblower protections, and the laws
and rules applicable to pharmaceutical marketing. The bill directs the commissioner
to regularly publish a list of courses that fulfill the education requirements. Under

the bill, a course provider must disclose any conflict of interest and the courses may
not be provided by an employer of a pharmaceutical representative or be funded by
the pharmaceutical industry or a third party funded by the industry.

The bill requires that, no later than June 1 of each year, a pharmaceutical
representative report to OCI his or her total number of contacts with health care
professionals in Wisconsin, the specialties of those health care professionals, the
location and duration of each contact, the pharmaceuticals discussed, and the value
of any item provided to a health care professional. The bill directs the commissioner
to publish the information on OCI's website, without identifying individual health
care professionals.

The bill requires that a pharmaceutical representative, during each contact
with a health care professional, disclose the wholesale acquisition cost of any
pharmaceuticals discussed and the names of at least three generic prescription
drugs from the same therapeutic class.

The bill directs the commissioner to promulgate ethical standards for
pharmaceutical representatives. Additionally, the bill prohibits a pharmaceutical
representative from engaging in deceptive or misleading marketing of a
pharmaceutical product; using a title or designation that could reasonably lead a
licensed health care professional, or an employee or representative of such a
professional, to believe that he or she is licensed to practice in a health occupation
unless he or she holds a license to practice; or attending an examination without the
patient's consent.

Under the bill, an individual violating any of these provisions is subject to a fine
and his or her license may be suspended or revoked. An individual whose license is
revoked must wait at least two years before applying for a new license.

SB548,2,32 601.31 (1) (nv) For issuing or renewing a license to a pharmaceutical
3representative under s. 632.863, an amount to be set by the commissioner by rule.