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Supreme Court Gets Final Say on Overtime
With conflicting lower court decisions over whether pharmaceutical sales reps should be paid for overtime, the Supreme Court has agreed to settle the matter. The court will hear the case brought by two former GSK reps that were denied their overtime claim by a Circuit Court.
With conflicting lower court decisions over whether pharmaceutical sales reps should be paid for overtime, the Supreme Court has agreed to settle the matter. The court will hear the case brought by two former GSK reps that were denied their overtime claim by a Circuit Court.
For years the industry has warned that overtime suits may swamp the industry with potentially billions of retroactive payments.
The biggest challenge for the Court will be to untangle conflicting stances from the various circuit courts. Last year a lower court decisions granted overtime payments to sales representatives at Novartis and Merck, finding that sales reps at Novartis and Schering Plough (now Merck) did not qualify for the "sales" exemption and were in fact owed overtime pay.
In the suit reps claimed that their primary responsibility was to visit physicians' offices, drop off drug samples, and deliver scripted messages about the company's products. Echoing the opinion of much of the pharmaceutical industry, the company argued that these workers are outside salespersons and therefore exempt from overtime pay under federal and state law.
Interestingly, The Department of Justice has argued along with the reps, that the employees were not eligible for an "outside sales exemption" and, in fact, were not engaged in sales activities.
A decision is not expected until June 2012.
The Transformative Role of Medical Information in Customer Engagement
October 3rd 2024Stacey Fung, Head of Global Medical Information at Gilead Lifesciences, delves into the evolving role of Medical Information (MI) in the pharmaceutical industry. Covering key topics like patient engagement through omnichannel strategies, combating misinformation, and leveraging AI to enhance medical inquiries, the conversation with Stacey highlights MI's critical role in ensuring patient safety and supporting drug development. She also shares her professional journey and tidbits for early career professionals on professional development.
Unlocking value and cost savings in patient services with technology and talent
October 2nd 2024Traci Miller, Director, Sonexus™ Access and Patient Support, Cardinal Health, discusses the current digital trends in the patient services industry and how the optimal balance of technology and talent can transform manufacturer-sponsored patient support programs. Hear how Cardinal Health combines best-in-class program and pharmacy operations with smart digital tools to ensure product and patient success and reduce operational costs.
