A recent OIG report, “Gaps in Oversight of Conflicts of Interest in Medicare Prescription Drug Decisions,” examines how Medicare Part D drug plan pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T) committees ensure that formulary decisions are not biased by conflicts of interest. Based on a survey of P&T committees and a review of their written policies, along with interviews with CMS, the OIG concluded that “both sponsors and CMS conduct limited oversight of P&T committee conflicts of interest, compromising their ability to ensure that financial interests do not influence formulary decisions.” For instance, most sponsors’ P&T committees have limited definitions of conflicts of interest (more than half did not define any financial interests with sponsors or pharmaceutical manufacturers as conflicts of interest), which the OIG believes could prevent them from identifying conflicts. Moreover, many sponsors’ P&T committees rely on their members to determine and manage their own conflicts. CMS also does not adequately oversee compliance with the regulatory requirement that at least two members on each P&T committee be independent and free of conflict relative to the plan sponsor and pharmaceutical manufacturers, according to the OIG. The OIG makes a series of recommendations intended to strengthen conflict-of-interest policies, including recommending that CMS: require P&T committee members to be free of conflict with any pharmacy benefit manager that manages a sponsor’s prescription drug benefit; direct sponsors to ensure that objective processes are used to determine and manage conflicts; and oversee sponsors’ compliance with the requirement that at least two committee members be independent and free of conflict.